cartel

/kɑːˈtɛl/

//kɑːˈtɛl// noun

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

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

The verdict

“cartel” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #13,292. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#13,292
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A group of businesses or nations that collude to limit competition within an industry or market.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cartel · cartel · English

cartel · rank #13,292 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #13,292
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH bushes

Nearest frequency peer: bushes (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “cartel”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “cartel” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

cartel vs cate
67% similar
cartel vs cruel
67% similar
cartel vs caste
67% similar

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

Key facts for cartel
PropertyValue
Headwordcartel
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kɑːˈtɛl/
Letters6
Frequency rank#13,292
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “cartel”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).cartellands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “bushes” (#13,291), “catastrophic” (#13,294), “Bollywood” (#13,289). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cartel” is #13,292. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around cartel (IPA /kɑːˈtɛl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #13,292 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for cartel, with forms such as "acrtel", "caretl", and "carrtel". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "cate", "cruel", "caste", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: In the business sense, borrowed from German Kartell, first used by Eugen Richter in 1871 in the Reichstag. In the political sense, which was the vehicle for this metaphor, the English sense, like the German sense, was borrowed from French cartel in the sixt… The correct English form is cartel, spelled C-A-R-T-E-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    A group of businesses or nations that collude to limit competition within an industry or market.
  2. 2
    A combination of political groups (notably parties) for common action.
  3. 3
    A written letter of defiance or challenge.
  4. 4
    An official agreement concerning the exchange of prisoners.
  5. 5
    A ship used to negotiate with an enemy in time of war, and to exchange prisoners.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Over the past decade, the very nature of organized crime has changed, with many groups diversifying their income beyond drug trafficking, and large cartels splintering into smaller, oftentimes more nimble groups.
  2. He is cowed at the very idea of a cartel.

Etymology

In the business sense, borrowed from German Kartell, first used by Eugen Richter in 1871 in the Reichstag. In the political sense, which was the vehicle for this metaphor, the English sense, like the German sense, was borrowed from French cartel in the sixteenth century, from Italian cartello, diminutive of carta (“card, page”), from Latin charta.

This word in other languages

cártel(Español)cartel(Français)Kartell(Deutsch)cartel(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • acrtel
  • caretl
  • carrtel
  • cartell
  • cartle
  • carttel
  • catrel
  • ccartel
  • cratel

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

acrtel2caretl2carrtel1cartell1cartle2carttel1catrel2ccartel1
Edit distance from "cartel"

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 "cartel"?
"cartel" is spelled C-A-R-T-E-L. The IPA pronunciation is /kɑːˈtɛl/.
What does "cartel" mean?
As a noun, "cartel" means: A group of businesses or nations that collude to limit competition within an industry or market.
What words are commonly confused with "cartel"?
"cartel" is commonly confused with "cate", "cruel", "caste". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "cartel"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cartel" is /kɑːˈtɛl/. 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 "cartel"?
In the business sense, borrowed from German Kartell, first used by Eugen Richter in 1871 in the Reichstag. In the political sense, which was the vehicle for this metaphor, the English sense, like the German sense, was borrowed from French cartel i... 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 "cartel", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

bushes#13,291caucus#13,295cheesy#13,297begged#13,286

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

citrus9 variantsawaited9 variantsZurich9 variantswicket9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list