vigorous
/ˈvɪɡəɹəs/adjective
vigorous is spelled V-I-G-O-R-O-U-S. The wrong spelling people search most is vigourous: about 60 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 26 of all searches for the word. Vigorous is an adjective meaning “Physically strong and active”.
How many letters and syllables are in vigorous?
| Letters | 8: V-I-G-O-R-O-U-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 2.9 times per million words; the 15,798th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, vigourous, about 60 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026).
How do you spell vigorous?
Vigorous is spelled V-I-G-O-R-O-U-S. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 26 of the searches for vigorous in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is vigorous?
Vigorous appears 2.9 times per million words in written English, the 15,798th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce vigorous?
- /ˈvɪɡəɹəs/
- /ˈvaɪɡɹəs/
Vigorous has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-vigorous.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of vigorous
- more vigorous comparative
- most vigorous superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does vigorous mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Physically strong and active.
a vigorous scrub
- 2
Mentally strong and active.
- 3
Rapid of growth.
a vigorous shrub
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Vigorous in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense physically strong and active:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | kräftig, stark, energisch, lebhaft, kraftvoll, heftig |
| Portuguese | vigoroso |
| Spanish | vigoroso, viripotente |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does vigorous come from?
From Anglo-Norman vigrus, from Old French vigoros (French vigoureux), from Medieval Latin vigorosus, from Latin vigor. Doublet of vigoroso.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).