Curaçao

/ˈkjuːɹəsaʊ/

//ˈkjuːɹəsaʊ// name

"curacao" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“Curaçao” is uncommon English (frequency #78,501 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#78,501
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An island and constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the southern part of the Caribbean Sea off the west coast of Venezuela.

Corpus desk

Index EN-curacao · Curaçao · English

Curaçao · rank #78,501 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #78,501
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH culottes

Nearest frequency peer: culottes (-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 “Curaçao”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “Curaçao” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for Curaçao
PropertyValue
HeadwordCuraçao
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
IPA/ˈkjuːɹəsaʊ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#78,501
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “Curaçao” in English

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).Curaçaofalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “culottes” (#78,500), “curtly” (#78,502), “cyc” (#78,503). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “Curaçao” is #78,501. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

Curaçao is uncommon English at frequency #78,501 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ˈkjuːɹəsaʊ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An island and constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the southern part of the Caribbean Sea off the west coast of Venezuela.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for Curaçao, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: Unadapted borrowing from Dutch Curaçao, from Spanish Curaçao, probably a transcription of a Caquetío (Arawakan) endonym. The correct English form is Curaçao, spelled C-U-R-A-Ç-A-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    An island and constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the southern part of the Caribbean Sea off the west coast of Venezuela.

Etymology

Unadapted borrowing from Dutch Curaçao, from Spanish Curaçao, probably a transcription of a Caquetío (Arawakan) endonym.

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

How do you spell "Curaçao"?
"Curaçao" is spelled C-U-R-A-Ç-A-O. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkjuːɹəsaʊ/.
What does "Curaçao" mean?
As a proper noun, "Curaçao" means: An island and constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in the southern part of the Caribbean Sea off the west coast of Venezuela.
How do you pronounce "Curaçao"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Curaçao" is /ˈkjuːɹəsaʊ/. 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 "Curaçao"?
Unadapted borrowing from Dutch Curaçao, from Spanish Curaçao, probably a transcription of a Caquetío (Arawakan) endonym. 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 "Curaçao", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list