cherry on top
/ˌt͡ʃɛɹi ɒn ˈtɒp/
"cherry-on-top" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cherry on top” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Synonym of icing on the cake (“a thing which intensifies the appreciation of something already good, or (ironic) the regretting of something already bad”).
Corpus desk
Index EN-cherry-on-top · cherry on top · English
cherry on top · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 13 letters
- VOW-4 4 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 | cherry on top |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌt͡ʃɛɹi ɒn ˈtɒp/ |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “cherry on top” in English
Rare enough to double-check
cherry on top is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌt͡ʃɛɹi ɒn ˈtɒp/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Synonym of icing on the cake (“a thing which intensifies the appreciation of something already good, or (ironic) the regretting of something already bad”).".
Zero misspellings are on record for cherry on top in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: An allusion to a cake being decorated on top with one or more cherries. The correct English form is cherry on top, spelled C-H-E-R-R-Y- -O-N- -T-O-P.
Definition
- 1Synonym of icing on the cake (“a thing which intensifies the appreciation of something already good, or (ironic) the regretting of something already bad”).
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how cherry on top appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
To me—the doing is what counts. Success—fame or fortune—sure, those are the cherries on top. Try to find the joy in the doing.
The memories are the cherries on top.
Etymology
An allusion to a cake being decorated on top with one or more cherries.
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.