How many syllables in “fastest”?

“fastest” has 2 syllables: fast·est

IPA
/ˈfæs.təst/
Stress
FAST-est (pattern 1-0)
Division
fast·est

Pronunciation

Say it likeIPASyllablesCountSource
FAST-est /ˈfæs.təst/ f ae s · t ah s t 2 CMU dictionary

Syllables are shown in ARPAbet (the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary's phoneme alphabet). Respellings put the stressed syllable in capitals.

Syllables vs. morphemes

Syllables (2)
fast·est
Morphemes (2)
fast + -est

The syllable breaks of fastest (fast·est) line up with its morphemes (fast + -est): every morpheme boundary is also a syllable boundary, so the word divides the same way for a syllable count and for a morphology exercise.

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Pronunciations from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. Hyphenation from the hyph_en_US patterns.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many syllables are in "fastest"?
"fastest" has two syllables: fast·est.
How do you divide "fastest" into syllables?
fast·est. The syllable breaks of fastest (fast·est) line up with its morphemes (fast + -est): every morpheme boundary is also a syllable boundary, so the word divides the same way for a syllable count and for a morphology exercise.
Is this syllable counter free?
Yes. The Fixie syllable counter is free, needs no signup, and runs in your browser; paste any text to count syllables, see stress and IPA.