cute

/kjuːt/

//kjuːt// adj

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

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

The verdict

“cute” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,249. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,249
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Possessing physical features, behaviors, personality traits or other properties that are mainly attributed to infants and small or cuddly animals; e.g. fair, dainty, round, and soft physical featur...

Corpus desk

Index EN-cute · cute · English

cute · rank #2,249 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,249
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH cook

Nearest frequency peer: cook (-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 neighbourhood for “cute”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “cute” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

cute vs cuz
50% similar
cute vs cuts
75% similar
cute vs cutie
80% similar

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

Key facts for cute
PropertyValue
Headwordcute
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/kjuːt/
Letters4
Frequency rank#2,249
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “cute” sits in English frequency

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).cutelands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “cook” (#2,248), “equal” (#2,250), “confidence” (#2,247). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around cute (IPA /kjuːt/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #2,249 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for cute, with forms such as "ccute", "ctue", and "cuet". 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, "cuz", "cuts", "cutie", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Aphetic form of acute, originally meaning “keenly perceptive or discerning, shrewd” (1731). Meaning transferred to “pretty, fetching” by US students (slang) c. 1834. Meaning drifted further to describe the pleasing attraction to features usually possessed b… The correct English form is cute, spelled C-U-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Possessing physical features, behaviors, personality traits or other properties that are mainly attributed to infants and small or cuddly animals; e.g. fair, dainty, round, and soft physical features, disproportionately large eyes and head, playfulness, fragility, helplessness, curiosity or shyness, innocence, affectionate behavior.
  2. 2
    Lovable, charming, attractive or pleasing, especially in a youthful, dainty, quaint or fun-spirited way.
  3. 3
    Sexually attractive or pleasing; gorgeous.
  4. 4
    Affected or contrived to charm; mincingly clever; precious; cutesy.
  5. 5
    Mentally keen or discerning (See also acute)
  6. 6
    Evincing cleverness; surprising in its elegance or unconventionality (but of limited importance).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how cute appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Our reaction to cute attributes is understood as the way nature ensures mammals care for their young.
  2. Let's go to the mall and look for cute girls.

Etymology

Aphetic form of acute, originally meaning “keenly perceptive or discerning, shrewd” (1731). Meaning transferred to “pretty, fetching” by US students (slang) c. 1834. Meaning drifted further to describe the pleasing attraction to features usually possessed by the young.

Synonyms

having features mainly attributed to infants and smallcuddly animalspretty

This word in other languages

gracioso(Español)mignon(Français)goldig(Deutsch)fofo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccute
  • ctue
  • cuet
  • cutte
  • ucte

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cute - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ccute1ctue2cuet2cutte1ucte2
Edit distance from "cute"

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 "cute"?
"cute" is spelled C-U-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /kjuːt/.
What does "cute" mean?
As an adjective, "cute" means: Possessing physical features, behaviors, personality traits or other properties that are mainly attributed to infants and small or cuddly animals; e.g. fair, dainty, round, and soft physical featur...
What words are commonly confused with "cute"?
"cute" is commonly confused with "cuz", "cuts", "cutie". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "cute"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cute" is /kjuːt/. 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 "cute"?
Aphetic form of acute, originally meaning “keenly perceptive or discerning, shrewd” (1731). Meaning transferred to “pretty, fetching” by US students (slang) c. 1834. Meaning drifted further to describe the pleasing attraction to features usually p... 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 "cute", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

cook#2,248fake#2,251hits#2,254Asia#2,243

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

quiet5 variantshole5 variantspure5 variantsmeat5 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "cute". Here's where to go from here.

  • "cute" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "cuz". View pair
  • 5 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #2,249 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "C" letter cohort. C–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

Data Source

Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list