artful
/ˈɑːtf(ʊ)l/
"artful" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“artful” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #33,516 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #33,516
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Characterized by, or performed with, cleverness or contrivance; clever, ingenious.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | artful |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈɑːtf(ʊ)l/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #33,516 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “artful” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for artful is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɑːtf(ʊ)l/. Corpus data places it at rank #33,516 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for artful, with forms such as "arftul", "arrtful", and "artfful". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "awful", "Arthur", "artfully", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From art (“skill that is attained by study, practice, or observation”) + -ful (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, with the sense of being full of, tending to, or thoroughly possessing the quality expressed by the noun). The correct English form is artful, spelled A-R-T-F-U-L.
Definition
- 1Characterized by, or performed with, cleverness or contrivance; clever, ingenious.
- 2Not naturally produced; artificial; imitative.
- 3Exhibiting or using much art or skill; dexterous; skilful.
- 4Skilful at using dishonest or unfair means to achieve a purpose; crafty, cunning.
- 5Knowledgeable about the liberal arts; learned, wise.
Etymology
From art (“skill that is attained by study, practice, or observation”) + -ful (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, with the sense of being full of, tending to, or thoroughly possessing the quality expressed by the noun).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: arftul,arrtful,artfful,artflu,artfull,arttful,artufl,atrful,ratful
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of artful - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “artful”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-R-T-F-U-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɑːtf(ʊ)l/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “awful” - see the side-by-side comparison. artful vs awful
- 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.