bagatelle
/ˌbæɡəˈtɛl/
"bagatelle" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bagatelle” is an uncommon English word, ranked #90,173 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #90,173
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A trifle; an insubstantial thing.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bagatelle |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌbæɡəˈtɛl/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #90,173 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bagatelle” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for bagatelle is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌbæɡəˈtɛl/. Corpus data places it at rank #90,173 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for bagatelle in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French bagatelle, from Italian bagattella. The correct English form is bagatelle, spelled B-A-G-A-T-E-L-L-E.
Definition
- 1A trifle; an insubstantial thing.
- 2A short piece of literature or of instrumental music, typically light or playful in character.
- 3A game similar to billiards played on an oblong table with pockets or arches at one end only.
- 4Any of several smaller wooden tabletop games developed from the original bagatelle in which the pockets are made of pins.
Etymology
Borrowed from French bagatelle, from Italian bagattella.
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); 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 “bagatelle”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-A-G-A-T-E-L-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌbæɡəˈtɛl/ (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.