What word in the English language has no vowels?

Answer 1

There is no true English "word" without a vowel, because besides the classic vowels A, E, I, O, U, the letter Y can be a vowel (and in diphthongs, W). Some utterances, such as grrr, pffft and zzz may be written without a vowel but they are not true words. The word crwth is sometimes found in English dictionaries, but it is a Welsh word using the Welsh alphabet, in which W may be the only vowel in a syllable.

Words with Y as a vowel include: gyp, cry, rhythm, syzygy

Words of Welsh origin (where the W is used instead of Y) include:

• "crwth," which is a musical instrument
• "cwm," which is a hollow in a mountain

Word forms without vowels:

• Interjections (onomatopoeia), such as brr, hmm, psst, shh, tsk, and zzz.
• The numerical term "nth" (an unspecified ordinal)
• The slang word "pwn" (meaning and sometimes pronounced as "own," or as "pone," and referring to a position of dominance, control, or humiliation). The missing vowel is still pronounced in either case.
• Acronyms and initialisms, such as DMV or BRB

Answer 2

Every word has an "implied" vowel sound has no vowels, because that is how words are pronounced. Some words use Y as a vowel (and in Welsh use W). These words contain the so-called semi-vowel Y and none of the true vowels.

Examples are hymn, rhythm, myth, nymph, sylph, and syzygy (the alignment of three celestial objects). Words from Welsh include cwm and crwth.

However

There are proper names that have no vowels, such as Ng.

The word nth, the slang word pwn, and some onomatopoeia words contain no vowels (e.g. brr, hmm, psst, and zzz). Many acronyms, abbreviations, and initialisms do not have vowels. So there are words, but they may not be considered "true" words even though they do appear in dictionaries.

Gypsy and pygmy are words that do not include a vowel. Additional words include my, dry, fry, cry, spy and by.

Answer 3

The English language is filled with many words which are dependent on vowels for proper accentuation. The only word within the English language that is actually considered a real word is cwm which is a rounded and glaciated valley.

Answer 4

Merriam-Webster's Official Scrabble Players Dictionary includes the words brr (indicates that one feels cold), by, crwth (a Welsh musical instrument similar to the violin), cry, crypt, cwm (is a deep hollow within a mountain), cyst, dry, fly, flyby, fry, glyph (an ornamental groove), gym, gyp, gypsy, hymn, hyp (hypochondria), lych (a corpse), lynch, lynx, my, myrrh, myth, nth (pertaining to an indefinitely large ordinal number), nymph, ply, pry, pygmy, pyx (a container in which the eucharistic bread is kept), rhythm, shy, shyly, sky, sly, sphynx, spryly, spy, sty, sylph (a slender, graceful girl or woman), syzygy (the configuration of the earth, moon, and sun lying in a straight line), try, tryst, tsk (to utter an exclamation of annoyance), tsktsk (to tsk), why, and wry.

Answer 5

Some would suggest that words from Welsh qualify, e.g.,

crwth, which is a Welsh violin-like instrument

cwm (also spelled combe), which is a deep basin in a mountain.

Not really, as this w is used to represent a vowel sound, just as it does in the diphthongs -aw, -ew and -ow in English, and as y often does (whether independently in "cry" or in diphthongs -ay, -ey - oy).

The only truly vowelless words in English are interjections such as brr, hmm, psst, shh, tsk, and zzz

Perhaps also nth (as used in math)

Answer 6

All words have a vowel or vowel sound, even if it is a trailing sibilant. Vowel sounds are created by the flow of air.

Words with Y as a vowel include : rhythm, try, fly, why.

Words (from Welsh) with W instead of Y : cwm (valley), crwth (a string instrument)

Words that actually have no vowel as spelled : interjections and onomatopoeia sounds.

• Shh! Psst! Grr! Tsk! Zzz.
• The mathematical term "nth" (an unspecified ordinal)

Answer 7

There are 124 words with no vowels but Y in Webster's Second International dictionary, 127 in the Scrabble dictionary, and 28 that do not contain Y across both these dictionaries:

brr

brrr

crwth

crwths

cwm

cwms

grr

hm

hmm

mm

nth

pfft

phpht

pht

psst

pst

sh

shh

st

tch

tck

th

tsk

tsks

tsktsk

tsktsks

tst

zzz

Here are some with a Y:

glycyls

gypsyfy

gypsyry

nymphly

rhythms

symphysy

tsktsks

Answer 8

Given that the letter "y" can function as a vowel in some words, there are no English words without vowels, other than slang, or colloquial expressions, such as:

1. brrr (it's cold)
2. grrr (growl)
3. hmm (wondering)
   
4. mmm (delicious)
5. pfft (the sound of a raspberry, unvoiced linguolabial trill [r̼̊])
6. psst (getting someone's attention)
7. shh (quiet)
   
8. zzz (sleeping)
   

It's important to note that although most of these are real words by most linguistic definitions, they don't have universal standard spellings.

Answer 9

my, by, try, sky, why, fry, gym, hymn, lynx, myth and many many more a lot of them use Y because it has a sound

Answer 10

There is only one word I know that has no vowels, and that word is "rhythm".