wack
/ˈwæk/adjective, noun
wack is spelled W-A-C-K: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,418th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “wack vs whack” about 590 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, wack means “Annoyingly or disappointingly bad, in various senses; lousy, corny, cringy, uncool, messed up” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in wack?
| Letters | 4: W-A-C-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 |
| In writing | about once in every 1 million words; the 30,418th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Sounds like |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; 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 common is wack?
Wack appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 30,418th 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 wack?
- /ˈwæk/
Wack has one syllable.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-au-wack.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with wack
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: whack (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Also written: whack.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of wack
- wacker comparative
- wackest superlative
- whack
- wacks plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does wack mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
slangAnnoyingly or disappointingly bad, in various senses; lousy, corny, cringy, uncool, messed up.
Every record they ever made was straight-up wack.
noun
- 1
An eccentric; an oddball; a weirdo.
- 2
datedPCP, phencyclidine (as also whack).
- 3
UKA friendly term of address.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Wack in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | pésimo, barbaridad, bestia , estrafalario |
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 wack come from?
Back-formation from wacky. Alternatively, possibly a blend of white + black, in the sense that it may appear black on the outside, but it's really white on the inside. Compare oreo.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).