virile
/ˈvɪɹ.əl/adjective
virile is spelled V-I-R-I-L-E: 6 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,738th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, virile means “Manly; having characteristics associated with being male, such as strength; exhibiting masculine traits to an exaggerated degree such as strength…” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in virile?
| Letters | 6: V-I-R-I-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 51,738th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
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).
How common is virile?
Virile appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,738th 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 virile?
- /ˈvɪɹ.əl/
- /ˈvɪɹˌaɪl/
Virile has 2 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-virile.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of virile
- more virile comparative
- most virile superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does virile mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Manly; having characteristics associated with being male, such as strength; exhibiting masculine traits to an exaggerated degree such as strength, forcefulness or vigor.
- 2
Possessing high sexual drive and capacity for sexual intercourse.
- 3
Pertaining to a grammatical gender used in plurals of some Slavic languages, corresponding to the personal masculine animate nouns.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Virile in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | viril |
| German | männlich, maskulin, viril , Personalmaskulinum |
| Portuguese | viril |
| Spanish | viril |
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 virile come from?
From Middle French viril, from Latin virīlis, from vir (“man”, “male human”) + -īlis (suffix forming adjectives from nouns).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).