call a spade a spade
"call-a-spade-a-spade" is a 16-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“call a spade a spade” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 20
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To put it bluntly, to be outspoken; to speak the truth, to describe things as they really are.
Corpus desk
Index EN-call-a-spade-a-spade · call a spade a spade · English
call a spade a spade · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 20 letters
- VOW-7 7 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | call a spade a spade |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 20 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “call a spade a spade” in English
Rare enough to double-check
call a spade a spade is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To put it bluntly, to be outspoken; to speak the truth, to describe things as they really are.".
call a spade a spade has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: A mistaken translation of Ancient Greek τὰ σῦκα σῦκα, τὴν σκάφην δὲ σκάφην ὀνομάσων (tà sûka sûka, tḕn skáphēn dè skáphēn onomásōn, “calling figs figs, and a trough a trough”). The word σκάφη (skáphē, “trough”) was mistranslated by the Renaissance scholar D… The correct English form is call a spade a spade, spelled C-A-L-L- -A- -S-P-A-D-E- -A- -S-P-A-D-E.
Definition
- 1To put it bluntly, to be outspoken; to speak the truth, to describe things as they really are.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how call a spade a spade appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Maybe God just calls a spade a spade, when the president talks to God.
Etymology
A mistaken translation of Ancient Greek τὰ σῦκα σῦκα, τὴν σκάφην δὲ σκάφην ὀνομάσων (tà sûka sûka, tḕn skáphēn dè skáphēn onomásōn, “calling figs figs, and a trough a trough”). The word σκάφη (skáphē, “trough”) was mistranslated by the Renaissance scholar Desiderius Erasmus as σκαφείον (skapheíon, “digging tool”).
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.