beauty

/ˈbjuːti/

//ˈbjuːti// noun

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

"beauty" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“beauty” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #1,809 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#1,809
frequency rank, English
6
letters
8
tracked misspellings
11
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The quality of being (especially visually) attractive, pleasing, fine or good-looking; comeliness.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

beauty vs betty
67% similar
beauty vs beaux
67% similar
beauty vs beat
67% similar

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

Key facts for beauty
PropertyValue
Headwordbeauty
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbjuːti/
Letters6
Frequency rank#1,809
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs11
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “beauty” sits in English frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for beauty is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbjuːti/. Corpus data places it at rank #1,809 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for beauty, with forms such as "baeuty", "bbeauty", and "beatuy". 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 11 confusable-pair relationships, "betty", "beaux", "beat", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂-der.? Proto-Italic *dwenos Old Latin duenos Old Latin duonusder. Old Latin *duenelos Vulgar Latin bellus Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts Proto-Italic *-tāts Vulgar La… The correct English form is beauty, spelled B-E-A-U-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The quality of being (especially visually) attractive, pleasing, fine or good-looking; comeliness.
  2. 2
    Someone who is beautiful.
  3. 3
    Those aspects or elements that make someone or something beautiful.
  4. 4
    Something that is particularly good or pleasing.
  5. 5
    An excellent or egregious example of something.
  6. 6
    The excellence or genius of a scheme or decision.
  7. 7
    A beauty quark (now called bottom quark).
  8. 8
    Beauty treatment; cosmetology.
  9. 9
    Prevailing style or taste; rage; fashion.
  10. 10
    Beautiful passages or extracts of poetry.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂-der.? Proto-Italic *dwenos Old Latin duenos Old Latin duonusder. Old Latin *duenelos Vulgar Latin bellus Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts Proto-Italic *-tāts Vulgar Latin -tās Vulgar Latin *bellitātem Anglo-Norman biautébor. Middle English beaute English beauty From Middle English bewty, bewte, beaute, bealte, from Anglo-Norman and Old French beauté (early Old French spelling biauté), from Vulgar Latin *bellitātem (“beauty”), from Latin bellus (“beautiful, fair”); see beau. In this sense, mostly displaced native Old English fæġernes, whence Modern English fairness.

Synonyms

good-lookingnessgorgeousnessinspirationlovelinessbellelookergood lookerbeautiful personbeautiful womangemjewelattractivenessbeautifulnessbeautycomelinessprettinesspulchritude

Antonyms

repulsivenesshomelinessugliness

This word in other languages

belleza(Español)beauté(Français)Schönheit(Deutsch)beleza(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: baeuty,bbeauty,beatuy,beautty,beautyy,beauyt,beuaty,ebauty

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

baeuty2bbeauty1beatuy2beautty1beautyy1beauyt2beuaty2ebauty2
Edit distance from "beauty"

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 "beauty"?
"beauty" is spelled B-E-A-U-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbjuːti/.
What does "beauty" mean?
As a noun, "beauty" means: The quality of being (especially visually) attractive, pleasing, fine or good-looking; comeliness.
What words are commonly confused with "beauty"?
"beauty" is commonly confused with "betty", "beaux", "beat". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "beauty"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "beauty" is /ˈbjuːti/. 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 "beauty"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *dewh₂-der.? Proto-Italic *dwenos Old Latin duenos Old Latin duonusder. Old Latin *duenelos Vulgar Latin bellus Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-ts Proto-Indo-European *-teh₂ts Proto-Italic *-tāts... 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.

Using “beauty”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is B-E-A-U-T-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈbjuːti/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “betty” - see the side-by-side comparison. beauty vs betty
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list