attaché

/əˈtæʃeɪ/

//əˈtæʃeɪ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"attache" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“attaché” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #38,292. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#38,292
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A diplomatic officer, usually one who plays a specific role.

Corpus desk

Index EN-attache · attaché · English

attaché · rank #38,292 · 8 variants · 8 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #38,292
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH astrological

Nearest frequency peer: astrological (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “attaché”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “attaché” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

attaché vs attack
71% similar
attaché vs attacks
71% similar
attaché vs attached
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for attaché
PropertyValue
Headwordattaché
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/əˈtæʃeɪ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#38,292
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “attaché”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).attachélands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “astrological” (#38,291), “auger” (#38,293), “asf” (#38,290). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “attaché” is #38,292. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around attaché (IPA /əˈtæʃeɪ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #38,292 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Dominant gloss: "A diplomatic officer, usually one who plays a specific role.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for attaché, with forms such as "ataché", "atatché", and "attacché". 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 8 confusable-pair relationships, "attack", "attacks", "attached", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Unadapted borrowing from French attaché (literally “attached”). The correct English form is attaché, spelled A-T-T-A-C-H-É.

Definition

  1. 1
    A diplomatic officer, usually one who plays a specific role.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how attaché appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Little did anyone suspect that the military attaché was one of the world's craftiest spies.
  2. One of the commercial attachés of the Department of Commerce in South America transmits the name and address of an engineer who desires to receive full information relative to an automotor for an interurban railway.

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from French attaché (literally “attached”).

This word in other languages

agregado(Español)attaché(Français)Attaché(Deutsch)adido(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ataché
  • atatché
  • attacché
  • attachhé
  • attacéh
  • attahcé
  • attcahé
  • tataché

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of attaché - 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.

ataché1atatché2attacché1attachhé1attacéh2attahcé2attcahé2tataché2
Edit distance from "attaché"

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

How do you spell "attaché"?
"attaché" is spelled A-T-T-A-C-H-É. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈtæʃeɪ/.
What does "attaché" mean?
As a noun, "attaché" means: A diplomatic officer, usually one who plays a specific role.
What words are commonly confused with "attaché"?
"attaché" is commonly confused with "attack", "attacks", "attached". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "attaché"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "attaché" is /əˈtæʃeɪ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "attaché"?
Unadapted borrowing from French attaché (literally “attached”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "attaché", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

baillie#38,297Beatrix#38,305Beckman#38,306Aguirre#38,269

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

angina8 variantsAlsace8 variantsCarrera8 variantsvisage8 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list