Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

rictus

/ˈɹɪk.təs/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.82 in modern English

Syllables: ric-tus
IPA: /ˈɹɪk.təs/

8

Scrabble Score

6

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A bird’s gaping mouth.

noun

The throat of a calyx.

noun

Any open-mouthed expression.

Example Sentences

"His face was a rictus of sheer delight."
"Amid a thick, bristling beard, a nose like an owl's beak and a mouth whose corners were drawn by a wild-beast-like rictus were just discernible."
"A rictus of cruel malignity lit up greyly their old bony faces."
"Sword and shield, bone and steel / Rictus grin / Deaf forever to the battle's din"
"Valves plugs pumps to erase/ rictus from my face."
"The absolute incarnation of evil, Adolf Hitler, lies at your feet in a pool of his own blood. His wrinkled, crimson-splattered visage still strains, a jagged-toothed rictus trying to cry out. Insane even in death. Your lips pinched in bitter victory, you kick his head off his remains and spit on his corpse."

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin rictus.

Inflected Forms

rictuses (plural)

Derived Forms

rictal

Questions

How do you pronounce rictus?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈɹɪk.təs/.
What does rictus mean?: A bird’s gaping mouth.
Where does rictus come from?: Learned borrowing from Latin rictus.

How to pronounce rictus

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “rictus”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈɹɪk.təs/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “rictus”.
Repeat and practice — Say “rictus” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.