debonair
/dɛbəˈneə(ɹ)/
"debonair" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“debonair” is uncommon English (frequency #64,305 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #64,305
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Gracious, courteous.
Corpus desk
Index EN-debonair · debonair · English
debonair · rank #64,305 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #64,305
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH debunks
Nearest frequency peer: debunks (+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 “debonair”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Cuevas
Cuevas
35,704 corpus weight
- dama
dama
35,701 corpus weight
- debonair
debonair
35,696 corpus weight
- debunks
debunks
35,695 corpus weight
- decedent
decedent
35,694 corpus weight
- Denbigh
Denbigh
35,691 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “debonair” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | debonair |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /dɛbəˈneə(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #64,305 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “debonair” in English
Rare enough to double-check
debonair is uncommon English at frequency #64,305 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /dɛbəˈneə(ɹ)/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for debonair in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Old French debonaire, from the phrase de bon aire (“of good stock, noble”). The correct English form is debonair, spelled D-E-B-O-N-A-I-R.
Definition
- 1Gracious, courteous.
- 2Suave, urbane and sophisticated.
- 3Charming, confident, and carefully dressed.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how debonair appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Let be that Ladie debonaire, / Thou recreant knight, and soone thy selfe prepaire / To battell […].
“He's doing it wrong! I am much more suave, debonair, and sophisticated than that!” “Yes, Dan, that's a very debonair stain you have on your shirt.” “I'll have you know I have sophistication coming out the wazoo!”
Etymology
From Old French debonaire, from the phrase de bon aire (“of good stock, noble”).
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "debonair", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).