Words ending in OUS
There are 500 words ending in ous in this list, most common first. Filter by letters or length.
No words match that filter.
The most-used words ending in ous, and what they mean
These are the 14 that come up most often in written English, so they are the ones worth knowing first.
- various
- adjectiveHaving a broad range (of different elements).
- religious
- adjectiveConcerning religion.
- serious
- adjectiveImportant; weighty; not insignificant.
- previous
- adjective(not comparable) Prior; occurring before something else, either in time or order.
- obvious
- adjectiveEasily discovered, seen, or understood; self-explanatory.
- numerous
- adjectiveIndefinitely large numerically; many.
- continuous
- adjectiveWithout stopping; without a break, cessation, or interruption.
- famous
- adjectiveWell known.
- dangerous
- adjectiveFull of danger.
- conscious
- adjectiveAlert, awake; with one's mental faculties active.
- nervous
- adjectiveEasily agitated or alarmed; edgy, on edge.
- enormous
- adjectiveExtremely large; greatly exceeding the common size, extent, etc.
- anxious
- adjectiveHaving a feeling of anxiety or disquietude; extremely concerned, especially about something that will happen in the future or that is unknown.
- curious
- adjectiveTending to ask questions, or to want to explore or investigate; inquisitive; (with a negative connotation) nosy, prying.
Nouns, verbs and adjectives
Of the 500 words in this list, 18 can be used as a noun, including religious, previous, conscious, unconscious, precious. Plenty of words do more than one job: state is a noun, a verb and an adjective depending on how you use it, which is why these numbers add up to more than the list itself.
How this list is built
The words come from the Datamuse language API, then get cleaned up, because the raw output is not much use on its own. Each word is checked against an English dictionary, with a frequency floor for anything not in it, so ordinary inflections survive while noise does not. Roman numerals, fragments and vowel-less abbreviations are stripped out.
What is left is ranked by how often each word actually appears in written English. That ordering is the point: it puts the words you might actually want at the top. The full method is on how we build these.
Common questions
How many words ending in ous are there?
This list holds 500, filtered to real dictionary words and ranked by how common they are. English has more if you count obscure and archaic ones, but they are little use to anybody.
Can a word ending in OUS be a noun?
Yes. 18 of the 500 words on this list can be used as a noun. The breakdown above shows how many work as verbs, adjectives and adverbs too.
How are the words ordered?
By how often each word appears in written English, most common first, so the useful ones are at the top rather than buried under rarities. See how we build these.
Can I search inside the list?
Yes. The filter box narrows the list as you type, and where a list mixes lengths there are buttons to show only words of a given length.