cautelous
"cautelous" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cautelous” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Skillful in trickery or deception; cunning, wily.
Corpus desk
Index EN-cautelous · cautelous · English
cautelous · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-5 5 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 | cautelous |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cautelous” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
cautelous is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for cautelous, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French cauteleux. The correct English form is cautelous, spelled C-A-U-T-E-L-O-U-S.
Definition
- 1Skillful in trickery or deception; cunning, wily.
- 2Cautious, careful.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how cautelous appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The least touch of [Gaveston's] memory adds more to the King's affliction, who is fixt not to forget, or forgive, so bold and heinous a Trespass. The operations in the King were yet so powerful, but the jelousies of the Actors [who have killed Gaveston] are as cautelous, so fair a warning-piece bids them in time make good their own security. Lincoln, the…
I am not able to unfold, how this cautelous enterprise of licencing can be exempted from the number of vain and impossible attempts.
Etymology
From Middle French cauteleux.
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.
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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.