atari
/əˈtɑːˌɹi/
"atari" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“atari” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #29,546 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #29,546
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 19
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A move that threatens the immediate capture of one or more stones.
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 | atari |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /əˈtɑːˌɹi/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #29,546 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 19 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “atari” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for atari is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈtɑːˌɹi/. Corpus data places it at rank #29,546 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A move that threatens the immediate capture of one or more stones.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for atari, with forms such as "aatri", "atair", and "atarri". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 19 confusable-pair relationships, "ATR", "award", "aware", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Japanese 当たり. The correct English form is atari, spelled A-T-A-R-I.
Definition
- 1A move that threatens the immediate capture of one or more stones.
Etymology
Borrowed from Japanese 当たり.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aatri,atair,atarri,atrai,attari,taari
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of atari - 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 “atari”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-T-A-R-I - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əˈtɑːˌɹi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “ATR” - see the side-by-side comparison. atari vs ATR
- 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.