Syllable Counter
Count syllables in poems, haiku, and any text — with per-line and per-word counts, powered by a 20,000-word dictionary.
Try It Out
How It Works
Syllable counting is harder than it looks — English is full of silent letters, vowel pairs, and words like rhythm that break every rule. That’s why this tool is dictionary first: it looks up each word in a 20,000-word syllable dictionary, and only falls back to phonetic rules for words it doesn’t know.
Common problem words are corrected against a human-reviewed reference — fire and hour count as one syllable, every as two, chocolate as three — so the counts match what you’ll find in standard dictionaries.
Built for Haiku & Poetry
Put each line of your poem on its own line and watch the per-line counts update as you type — no button needed. A quick glance tells you whether your haiku still fits 5-7-5, or whether your sonnet line has the meter you want.
Example
Haiku Sample
The autumn wind blows Leaves fall softly to the ground Cold winter is near
Syllable Count
17 syllables — 5-7-5 haiku
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Frequently Asked Questions
- How does this syllable counter work?
- It uses a dictionary-first approach: a 20,000-word syllable dictionary derived from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary, with human-reviewed corrections for disputed words. Words not in the dictionary fall back to syllable rules. This is the same architecture the top competitors use.
- How accurate is it?
- Very accurate on common words. The dictionary covers the most frequent English words, and disputed words (like fire, hour, every, and chocolate) are corrected against a human-reviewed reference. Out-of-dictionary words use rule-based estimation, which is right for the large majority of cases.
- Can I count syllables line by line for a haiku?
- Yes. Paste each line of your poem on its own line and the tool shows the syllable count for every line in real time — perfect for checking 5-7-5 haiku structure while you write.
- How do you count words like fire or hour?
- We follow the standard dictionary treatment: fire and hour are counted as one syllable (the common American pronunciation), matching how many syllables and major dictionaries count them. The dictionary includes explicit corrections so these don’t rely on heuristics.
- Is there a limit to how much text I can paste?
- No. Unlike some competitors that cap input at 5,000 characters, this tool has no text limit. Everything runs locally, so even long documents process instantly.
- Does this tool store my text?
- No. All counting happens locally in your browser using JavaScript. Your text never leaves your device — we have no way to see, store, or access anything you paste.