butterface
/ˈbʌ.təˌfeɪs/
"butterface" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“butterface” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person who has an attractive body but an unattractive face.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | butterface |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbʌ.təˌfeɪs/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “butterface” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
butterface is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈbʌ.təˌfeɪs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
butterface doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: Ellipsis of various forms of everything looks good but her face, great body but her face, among other phrases, under the influence of butter (perhaps also with connotation of “plainness”, grease, etc.) and buttface. Compare summerteeth. The correct English form is butterface, spelled B-U-T-T-E-R-F-A-C-E.
Definition
- 1A person who has an attractive body but an unattractive face.
- 2An unattractive face.
Etymology
Ellipsis of various forms of everything looks good but her face, great body but her face, among other phrases, under the influence of butter (perhaps also with connotation of “plainness”, grease, etc.) and buttface. Compare summerteeth.
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “butterface”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-U-T-T-E-R-F-A-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbʌ.təˌfeɪs/ (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.