coattail
noun, verb
coattail is spelled C-O-A-T-T-A-I-L: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 36 million words in written English, the 184,844th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, coattail means “The flap at the back of a coat that hangs down, sometimes below the waist” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of coattail is coattails.
How many letters and syllables are in coattail?
| Letters | 8: C-O-A-T-T-A-I-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 36 million words; the 184,844th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is coattail?
Coattail appears about once in every 36 million words in written English, the 184,844th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce coattail?
- US
Coattail has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-coattail.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with coattail?
No other word on PlainSpell ends in the same sounds as coattail.
Spelled with the same letters in another order: tailcoat.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of coattail
- coattails plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- coat-tail
- coattailing participle, present
- coattailed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does coattail mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The flap at the back of a coat that hangs down, sometimes below the waist.
- 2
Success of a figure, organization or movement that transfers to those who associate with it.
to ride the coattails
verb
- 1
To ride the coattails of.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Coattail in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does coattail come from?
From coat + tail.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).