overwordExplorer
ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

X.

An unknown quantity or unknown value.

1 character1 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

num/ɛks/letter, name/ks//ɡz//kʃ/
  1. An unknown quantity or unknown value.

    Let X represent the forecast traffic flow in 20 years’ time.
Where this word comes from

Introduced by René Descartes in the context of mathematical notation, but has since widened to other contexts.

name/ɛks/letter, name/ks//ɡz//kʃ/
  1. A placeholder for an unknown, suppressed or hypothetical name.

    The woman known until now as Witness X has been unmasked after a court ruling.
    Suppose that Mr and Mrs X have been married for many years.
  2. A surname, used by those who have had their identity or heritage, including their proper ancestral names, erased or forgotten.

    Malcolm X
  3. An online social media network, formerly known as Twitter.

Where this word comes from

Introduced by René Descartes in the context of mathematical notation, but has since widened to other contexts.

character/ɛks/letter, name/ks//ɡz//kʃ/
  1. The twenty-fourth letter of the English alphabet, called ex and written in the Latin script.

    letter · uppercase
noun/ɛks/letter, name/ks//ɡz//kʃ/
  1. Any mark that looks like that letter, such as a mark made by a person who cannot read or write in lieu of a signature.

  2. The spot behind the goal.

adj/ɛks/letter, name/ks//ɡz//kʃ/
  1. Intersex or non-binary (in passports and identification documents).

    not-comparable
noun/ɛks/letter, name/ks//ɡz//kʃ/
  1. Ecstasy, a particular street drug.

    slang · uncountable
Where this word comes from

Presumably by abbreviation of the pronunciation of ecstasy.

adj/ɛks/letter, name/ks//ɡz//kʃ/
  1. Suitable only for those aged sixteen or (later) eighteen years and over.

    dated · not-comparable
  2. Obscene; adult; pornographic; XXX.

    not-comparable
name/ɛks/letter, name/ks//ɡz//kʃ/
  1. Christ

    informal
Where this word comes from

From Christ by abbreviation, orthographic borrowing from Ancient Greek Χ (Kh, letter chi), from Χριστός (Khristós, “Christ”).

noun/ɛks/letter, name/ks//ɡz//kʃ/
  1. Cross, crossing.

    Kennington via Charing X
Where this word comes from

From cross, due to the X symbol being a cross saltire.

name/ɛks/letter, name/ks//ɡz//kʃ/
  1. The X Window System, a windowing system for bitmap displays commonly used in Unix-like systems.

    Unix
Where this word comes from

Named after its predecessor, the W Window System; X follows W in the Latin alphabet.

verb/ɛks/letter, name/ks//ɡz//kʃ/
  1. Alternative spelling of ex (“to delete; to cross out”).

    alt-of · alternative
adj/ɛks/letter, name/ks//ɡz//kʃ/
  1. Abbreviation of extreme.

    abbreviation · alt-of · informal
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.