double-tongued

adj

"double-tongued" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“double-tongued” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Saying one thing to one person and something different to another; double talking; deceitful in speech.

Corpus desk

Index EN-double-tongued · double-tongued · English

double-tongued · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 14 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "D" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for double-tongued
PropertyValue
Headworddouble-tongued
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “double-tongued” in English

double-tonguedranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

double-tongued is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Saying one thing to one person and something different to another; double talking; deceitful in speech.".

No misspelling variants are generated for double-tongued in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English doubultongud, dowbyl townged, dubble tungyd, equivalent to double + tongued. The correct English form is double-tongued, spelled D-O-U-B-L-E---T-O-N-G-U-E-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Saying one thing to one person and something different to another; double talking; deceitful in speech.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Thou art but a double-tongu'd Chriſtian, I doubt: […]
  2. “Thou wry-necked, trash-mongering, swaggering, double-tongued, huff-snuff!”

Etymology

From Middle English doubultongud, dowbyl townged, dubble tungyd, equivalent to double + tongued.

Synonyms

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "double-tongued"?
"double-tongued" is spelled D-O-U-B-L-E---T-O-N-G-U-E-D.
What does "double-tongued" mean?
As an adjective, "double-tongued" means: Saying one thing to one person and something different to another; double talking; deceitful in speech.
What is the origin of the word "double-tongued"?
From Middle English doubultongud, dowbyl townged, dubble tungyd, equivalent to double + tongued. 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list