brassiere

/ˈbɹæziɛə/

//ˈbɹæziɛə// noun

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

"brassiere" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“brassiere” is uncommon English (frequency #94,623 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#94,623
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Dated form of bra (“item of underwear”).

Corpus desk

Index EN-brassiere · brassiere · English

brassiere · rank #94,623 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #94,623
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH brak

Nearest frequency peer: brak (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “brassiere”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “brassiere” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for brassiere
PropertyValue
Headwordbrassiere
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbɹæziɛə/
Letters9
Frequency rank#94,623
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “brassiere” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).brassierefalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “brak” (#94,622), “Brearley” (#94,624), “braising” (#94,621). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “brassiere” is #94,623. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

brassiere is uncommon English at frequency #94,623 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈbɹæziɛə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Dated form of bra (“item of underwear”).".

No misspelling variants are generated for brassiere in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French brassière. Doublet of brachiaria. The correct English form is brassiere, spelled B-R-A-S-S-I-E-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Dated form of bra (“item of underwear”).

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. She started to strap her brassiere over her breasts.

Etymology

Borrowed from French brassière. Doublet of brachiaria.

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 "brassiere"?
"brassiere" is spelled B-R-A-S-S-I-E-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbɹæziɛə/.
What does "brassiere" mean?
As a noun, "brassiere" means: Dated form of bra (“item of underwear”).
How do you pronounce "brassiere"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "brassiere" is /ˈbɹæziɛə/. 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 "brassiere"?
Borrowed from French brassière. Doublet of brachiaria. 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 "brassiere", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

broadhead#94,629brutalize#94,632Caesarian#94,641Cajamarca#94,644

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list