won't
/woʊnt/verb
won't is spelled W-O-N-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 219 times per million words in written English, the 460th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “won't vs wont” about 720 times a month (Google, United States). As a verb, won't means “will not (negative auxiliary); used to indicate a future non-occurring action” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in won't?
| Letters | 4: W-O-N-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 219 times per million words; the 460th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is won't?
Won't appears 219 times per million words in written English, the 460th 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 won't?
- UK /wəʊnt/
- /ˈwɪnɪt/
- US /woʊnt/
Won't has one syllable (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-won't.ogg, En-au-wont.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with won't
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with won't?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as won't from its last stressed vowel (/oʊnt/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
What does won't mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
will not (negative auxiliary); used to indicate a future non-occurring action.
Sam won't be doing any work this afternoon.
- 2
doesn't want to
He either can't or won't do anything about it.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does won't come from?
From earlier wonnot, from Middle English wynnot, wilnot, wolnot, wilnat, a contraction of Middle English will not, wil not, wyll not, will noght, wil noht, willi noȝt, wyl nat, wol not, woll not, wole not, wolle not, wol nat, woll nat, etc., equivalent to a will + not and/or woll + not. For the pronunciation with /oʊ/, /əʊ/, see poultry.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).