daft

/dɑːft/

//dɑːft// adj

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

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

The verdict

“daft” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #16,207. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#16,207
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Foolish, silly, stupid.

Corpus desk

Index EN-daft · daft · English

daft · rank #16,207 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #16,207
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH Dani

Nearest frequency peer: Dani (+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 “daft”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “daft” 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 2, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

daft vs DT
0% similar
daft vs day
50% similar
daft vs dan
50% similar

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

Key facts for daft
PropertyValue
Headworddaft
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/dɑːft/
Letters4
Frequency rank#16,207
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “daft” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). daft lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around daft (IPA /dɑːft/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #16,207 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for daft, with forms such as "adft", "dafft", and "daftt". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "DT", "day", "dan", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English dafte, defte (“gentle; having good manners; humble, modest; awkward; dull; boorish”), from Old English dæfte (“accommodating; gentle, meek, mild”), from Proto-West Germanic *daftī (“fitting, suitable”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-Europea… The correct English form is daft, spelled D-A-F-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Foolish, silly, stupid.
  2. 2
    Crazy, insane, mad.
  3. 3
    Gentle, meek, mild.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Thou art the daftest fuill that ever I saw. / Trows thou, man, be the law to get remeid / Of men of kirk? Na, nocht till thou be deid.
  2. So that if a boor complains of a broken-head, or a beer-seller of a broken can, or a daft wench does but squeak loud enough to be heard above her breath, a soldier of honour shall be dragged, not before his own court-martial, who can best judge of and punish his demerits, but before a base mechanical burgo-master, who shall menace him with the rasp-house,…

Etymology

From Middle English dafte, defte (“gentle; having good manners; humble, modest; awkward; dull; boorish”), from Old English dæfte (“accommodating; gentle, meek, mild”), from Proto-West Germanic *daftī (“fitting, suitable”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *dʰh₂ebʰ- (“fitting; to fit together”). Related to Old English dafnian, dafenian (“to be fitting, appropriate, or becoming”), Russian до́брый (dóbryj, “good”). Doublet of deft. Compare silly which originally meant “blessed; good, innocent; pitiful; weak”, but now means “laughable or amusing through foolishness or a foolish appearance; mentally simple, foolish”. Unrelated to, though perhaps influenced by, daff (“fool (n.); to be foolish (v.)”) (past form daffed).

This word in other languages

tonto(Español)dingue(Français)albern(Deutsch)sandeu(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • adft
  • dafft
  • daftt
  • datf
  • ddaft
  • dfat

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of daft - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

adft2dafft1daftt1datf2ddaft1dfat2
Edit distance from "daft"

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "daft"?
"daft" is spelled D-A-F-T. The IPA pronunciation is /dɑːft/.
What does "daft" mean?
As an adjective, "daft" means: Foolish, silly, stupid.
What words are commonly confused with "daft"?
"daft" is commonly confused with "DT", "day", "dan". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "daft"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "daft" is /dɑːft/. 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 "daft"?
From Middle English dafte, defte (“gentle; having good manners; humble, modest; awkward; dull; boorish”), from Old English dæfte (“accommodating; gentle, meek, mild”), from Proto-West Germanic *daftī (“fitting, suitable”), ultimately from Proto-In... 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 "daft", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Dani#16,208duly#16,220dusk#16,221bead#16,178

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

Carla6 variantsgran6 variantsHeidi6 variantsWally6 variants
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