African-American
/ˈæ.fɹɪ.kən əˈmɛɹ.ɪ.kən/
"african-american" is a 15-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“African-American” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 16
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A member of an ethnic group consisting of Americans of black African descent.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | African-American |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈæ.fɹɪ.kən əˈmɛɹ.ɪ.kən/ |
| Letters | 16 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “African-American” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
African-American is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈæ.fɹɪ.kən əˈmɛɹ.ɪ.kən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for African-American, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: Patterned on forms such as Irish-American, popularized by Jesse Jackson and in common use since the late 1980s. The correct English form is African-American, spelled A-F-R-I-C-A-N---A-M-E-R-I-C-A-N.
Definition
- 1A member of an ethnic group consisting of Americans of black African descent.
- 2Any black American person; by extension, any black person.
Etymology
Patterned on forms such as Irish-American, popularized by Jesse Jackson and in common use since the late 1980s.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “African-American”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-F-R-I-C-A-N---A-M-E-R-I-C-A-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈæ.fɹɪ.kən əˈmɛɹ.ɪ.kən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.