dulcet
/ˈdʌl.sɪt/
"dulcet" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dulcet” is an uncommon English word, ranked #85,203 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #85,203
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Sweet, especially when describing voice or tones; melodious.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dulcet |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈdʌl.sɪt/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #85,203 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “dulcet” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for dulcet is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdʌl.sɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #85,203 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No generated misspelling entries exist for dulcet in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, 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 doucet, from Old French doucet, from dulz, dulce (“sweet, pleasant”) + diminutive -et, from Latin dulcis (“sweet, pleasant”). Cognate with Spanish dulce, French doux, Italian dolce, Portuguese doce, and Romanian dulce. Doublet of dolcett… The correct English form is dulcet, spelled D-U-L-C-E-T.
Definition
- 1Sweet, especially when describing voice or tones; melodious.
- 2Generally pleasing; agreeable.
- 3Sweet to the taste.
Etymology
From Middle English doucet, from Old French doucet, from dulz, dulce (“sweet, pleasant”) + diminutive -et, from Latin dulcis (“sweet, pleasant”). Cognate with Spanish dulce, French doux, Italian dolce, Portuguese doce, and Romanian dulce. Doublet of dolcetto and doucet.
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 “dulcet”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-U-L-C-E-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈdʌl.sɪt/ (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.