zounds
/zuːndz/interjection
zounds is spelled Z-O-U-N-D-S: 6 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 25 million words in written English, the 150,355th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an interjection, zounds means “Expressing anger, surprise, assertion etc” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in zounds?
| Letters | 6: Z-O-U-N-D-S |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 25 million words; the 150,355th 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 zounds?
Zounds appears about once in every 25 million words in written English, the 150,355th 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 zounds?
- /zuːndz/
- /zaʊndz/
Zounds 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)-Vealhurl-zounds.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-zounds2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of zounds
- 'zounds
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does zounds mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
interjection
- 1
datedExpressing anger, surprise, assertion etc.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Where does zounds come from?
Minced form of God's wounds, with reference to the wounds from Christ's crucifixion. Compare strewth, blimey, gadzooks, 'sblood, crikey.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).