cellophane
/ˈsɛləfeɪn/
"cellophane" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cellophane” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #46,971 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #46,971
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of a variety of transparent plastic films, especially one made of processed cellulose.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cellophane |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsɛləfeɪn/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #46,971 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cellophane” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for cellophane is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsɛləfeɪn/. Corpus data places it at rank #46,971 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Any of a variety of transparent plastic films, especially one made of processed cellulose.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for cellophane, with forms such as "ccellophane", "cellohpane", and "cellopahne". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "cellphone", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Genericized trademark. Blend of cellulose + diaphane. The correct English form is cellophane, spelled C-E-L-L-O-P-H-A-N-E.
Definition
- 1Any of a variety of transparent plastic films, especially one made of processed cellulose.
Etymology
Genericized trademark. Blend of cellulose + diaphane.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccellophane,cellohpane,cellopahne,cellophaen,cellophanne,cellophhane,cellophnae,cellopphane,cellpohane,celolphane,celophane,clelophane,ecllophane
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cellophane - 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.
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 "cellophane"?
What does "cellophane" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "cellophane"?
How do you pronounce "cellophane"?
What is the origin of the word "cellophane"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “cellophane”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-E-L-L-O-P-H-A-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsɛləfeɪn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “cellphone” - see the side-by-side comparison. cellophane vs cellphone
- 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.