chortle
/ˈt͡ʃɔɹtəl/
"chortle" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“chortle” is uncommon English (frequency #83,114 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #83,114
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A joyful, somewhat muffled laugh, rather like a snorting chuckle.
Corpus desk
Index EN-chortle · chortle · English
chortle · rank #83,114 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #83,114
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH chowing
Nearest frequency peer: chowing (+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.
Long-tail ranks near “chortle”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- cheerily
cheerily
16,891 corpus weight
- chell
chell
16,890 corpus weight
- chiding
chiding
16,889 corpus weight
- chortle
chortle
16,887 corpus weight
- chowing
chowing
16,886 corpus weight
- Chukchi
Chukchi
16,884 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “chortle” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | chortle |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈt͡ʃɔɹtəl/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #83,114 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “chortle” in English
Rare enough to double-check
chortle is uncommon English at frequency #83,114 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈt͡ʃɔɹtəl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for chortle in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Perhaps a blend of chuckle + snort. Coined by Lewis Carroll in his poem Jabberwocky, completed in 1855 but only introduced to the public in his 1871 novel Through the Looking-Glass. The correct English form is chortle, spelled C-H-O-R-T-L-E.
Definition
- 1A joyful, somewhat muffled laugh, rather like a snorting chuckle.
- 2A similar sounding vocalisation of various birds.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how chortle appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
He frequently interrupted himself with chortles while he told us his favorite joke.
Etymology
Perhaps a blend of chuckle + snort. Coined by Lewis Carroll in his poem Jabberwocky, completed in 1855 but only introduced to the public in his 1871 novel Through the Looking-Glass.
Synonyms
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); 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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "chortle", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).