cuff

/kʌf/

//kʌf// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"cuff" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cuff” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #14,730) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#14,730
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Glove; mitten

Corpus desk

Index EN-cuff · cuff · English

cuff · rank #14,730 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #14,730
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH curling

Nearest frequency peer: curling (+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.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “cuff”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “cuff” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

cuff vs cut
50% similar
cuff vs cup
50% similar
cuff vs cum
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for cuff
PropertyValue
Headwordcuff
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kʌf/
Letters4
Frequency rank#14,730
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “cuff”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).cufflands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “curling” (#14,731), “cyclone” (#14,732), “cosmos” (#14,727). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cuff” is #14,730. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for cuff is neighbouring look-alikes ("cut", "cup", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /kʌf/. Frequency #14,730 among 5,599 “C” headwords. 4 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for cuff, with forms such as "ccuff", "cfuf", and "cuf". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "cut", "cup", "cum", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English cuffe, coffe (“glove, mitten”), of obscure origin. Perhaps from Old English cuffie (“hood, cap”), from Medieval Latin cofia, cofea, cuffa, cuphia (“helmet, headdress, hood, cap”), from Frankish *kuf(f)ja (“headdress”), from Proto-West Ge… The correct English form is cuff, spelled C-U-F-F.

Definition

  1. 1
    Glove; mitten
  2. 2
    The end of a shirt sleeve that covers the wrist.
  3. 3
    The end of a pants leg when folded up.
  4. 4
    A surgical procedure in which parts of the body that were not previously connected are stitched together.

Etymology

From Middle English cuffe, coffe (“glove, mitten”), of obscure origin. Perhaps from Old English cuffie (“hood, cap”), from Medieval Latin cofia, cofea, cuffa, cuphia (“helmet, headdress, hood, cap”), from Frankish *kuf(f)ja (“headdress”), from Proto-West Germanic *kuffju, from Proto-Germanic *kupjō (“cap”). Cognate with Middle High German kupfe (“cap”).

This word in other languages

puño(Español)manchette(Français)Manschette(Deutsch)punho(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccuff
  • cfuf
  • cuf
  • ucff

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cuff - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ccuff1cfuf2cuf1ucff2
Edit distance from "cuff"

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 "cuff"?
"cuff" is spelled C-U-F-F. The IPA pronunciation is /kʌf/.
What does "cuff" mean?
As a noun, "cuff" means: Glove; mitten
What words are commonly confused with "cuff"?
"cuff" is commonly confused with "cut", "cup", "cum". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "cuff"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cuff" is /kʌf/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "cuff"?
From Middle English cuffe, coffe (“glove, mitten”), of obscure origin. Perhaps from Old English cuffie (“hood, cap”), from Medieval Latin cofia, cofea, cuffa, cuphia (“helmet, headdress, hood, cap”), from Frankish *kuf(f)ja (“headdress”), from Pro... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "cuff", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Choi#14,719CCTV#14,715Cass#14,714bruh#14,711

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list