dexterous
/ˈdɛkstɹəs/
"dexterous" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dexterous” is an uncommon English word, ranked #68,146 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #68,146
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Skillful with one's hands.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dexterous |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈdɛkstɹəs/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #68,146 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “dexterous” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for dexterous is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdɛkstɹəs/. Corpus data places it at rank #68,146 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for dexterous, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin dexter (“right, ready”) + -ous. Displaced native Old English handcræftiġ. The correct English form is dexterous, spelled D-E-X-T-E-R-O-U-S.
Definition
- 1Skillful with one's hands.
- 2Skillful in some specific thing.
- 3Agile; flexible; able to move fluidly and gracefully.
- 4Skilled at argumentation; mentally skillful; quick-witted.
Etymology
From Latin dexter (“right, ready”) + -ous. Displaced native Old English handcræftiġ.
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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Using “dexterous”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-E-X-T-E-R-O-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈdɛkstɹəs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.