# curtail vs curtain

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### curtail
*verb · IPA /kɜːˈteɪl/ · frequency rank #29,620*
To cut short the tail of (an animal).

### curtain
*noun · IPA /ˈkɜːtn̩/ · frequency rank #8,776*
A piece of cloth covering a window, bed, etc. to offer privacy and keep out light.

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/curtail-vs-curtain