wrack
/ɹæk/noun, verb
wrack is spelled W-R-A-C-K: 5 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 74,122nd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “rack vs wrack” about 590 times a month (Google, United States). As a noun, wrack means “The remains of something; a wreck” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of wrack is wracks.
How many letters and syllables are in wrack?
| Letters | 5: W-R-A-C-K |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 6 million words; the 74,122nd 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 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 common is wrack?
Wrack appears about once in every 6 million words in written English, the 74,122nd 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 wrack?
- /ɹæk/
Wrack 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Sapaa-wrack.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with wrack
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sounds like: rack (Wiktionary's homophone list; some hold only in some accents).
Also written: rack.
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of wrack
- wracks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- wracking participle, present
- wracked participle, past, singular, he/she/it, plural
- wrackt participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does wrack mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The remains of something; a wreck.
- 2
UKarchaicVengeance; revenge; persecution; punishment; consequence; trouble.
- 3
Ruin; destruction.
- 4
archaicRemnant from a shipwreck as washed ashore; flotsam or jetsam.
- 5
archaicThe right to claim such items.
- 6
Any marine vegetation cast up on shore, especially seaweed of the family Fucaceae.
- 7
Weeds, vegetation, or rubbish floating on a river or pond.
- 8
A high, flying cloud; a rack.
verb
- 1
UKTo execute vengeance on; avenge.
- 2
UKTo worry; tease; torment.
- 3
To wreck, especially a ship.
- 4
Alternative form of rack (“to cause to suffer pain, etc.”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Wrack in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
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 wrack come from?
From Middle English wrake, wrache, wreche, from a merger of Old English wracu, wræc (“misery, suffering”) and Old English wrǣċ (“vengeance, revenge”). See also wrake.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).