Three-Syllable Words

September 5, 2023

From animals and fruits to objects, three-syllable words are by far the most common in the English language. Within this list of words containing three syllables, you’ll find the most commonly used adjectives, nouns, and verbs.

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Table of Contents

3 Syllable Adjectives

Whether in writing or speech, adjectives bring your nouns to life. They give your readers and listeners vivid images of what your nouns look like, smell like, taste like, and how they behave. With that, consider using some of these three-syllable adjectives to bring your ideas to life.

Careful: If you’re a person who does things with thoughtfulness and diligence, you’re careful.
Adopted: When a child is legally brought up by parents other than his/her biological parents. You can also use this 3-syllable adjective when you embrace something new.
Bottomless: You can use this adjective to describe something that is infinite or without borders.
Limited: This 3-syllable adjective refers to a restriction on the size or number of something. For instance, There are limited copies available.
Elastic: Something stretchy that goes back to its normal size after it’s been fully stretched out.
Insecure: When you don’t feel confident about yourself or your abilities.
Athletic: This adjective relates to your strength and physical prowess. For instance, you ran a 6-minute mile because of your athletic ability
Circular: Something that’s round and in the shape of a circle
Potential: When you have the capacity to grow into something in the future.
Complete: Something that has all its parts
Permanent: When something is meant to last forever
Impressive: When you appreciate a thing because of its size, quality, ability, etc

3 Syllable Nouns

Here are some common three-syllable nouns that you will encounter in everyday life.

Family: Your group of descendants and ancestors, including your parents, children, aunts, uncles, cousins, etc.
Happiness: When you’re in a state of joy and contentment
Piano: A musical instrument with black and white keys.
Animal: A living thing, such as your family pet, that eats, breathes, and sleeps
Energy: The power within you that sustains your mental and physical abilities. It can also mean the power that comes from resources like electricity.
Pollution: Stinky or dirty contaminants in the environment and atmosphere.
Basketball: A game played between two opposing teams. Each time has five players on the court at a time.
Calendar: A chart that outlines the days and weeks of the year. Each month in a calendar contains between 28 and 31 days.
Mystery: A story, problem, or event that’s hard to understand, explain, or solve.
Perfection: When something has no flaws, impurities, or defects
Holiday: A special day of the year that typically commemorates or honors someone or something. For instance, Memorial Day and Thanksgiving are two popular U.S. holidays

3 Syllable Verbs

Verbs give a name to the actions of people and things. Here is a verb list of some common three-syllable words.

Celebrate: When you honor someone (like for their birthday) or something (like on Thanksgiving) by gathering and partying.
Remember: When you recall something or bring it to mind
Discipline: When you train someone (such as your children) or something (like your pet) to obey commands and follow acceptable protocol
Separate: To divide or move things apart from one another.
Emanate: To give off or spread. if you forget to use deodorant, you may emanate body odor
Encounter: When you unexpectedly come face to face with a person or problem
Surrender: To give up to an enemy or authority; for example, the country’s smartest choice was to surrender its weapons to the UN.
Duplicate: When you create an exact copy of something.
Audition: This verb means to try or to give a sample performance in hopes of achieving a given role.