dust devil
/dʌst ˈdɛvəl/
"dust-devil" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dust devil” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A small atmospheric vortex appearing in clear, dry conditions, made visible by swirling dust (or dirt or sand) picked up from the ground.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dust devil |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /dʌst ˈdɛvəl/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “dust devil” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for dust devil is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dʌst ˈdɛvəl/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A small atmospheric vortex appearing in clear, dry conditions, made visible by swirling dust (or dirt or sand) picked up from the ground.".
Zero misspellings are on record for dust devil in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From dust + devil. The correct English form is dust devil, spelled D-U-S-T- -D-E-V-I-L.
Definition
- 1A small atmospheric vortex appearing in clear, dry conditions, made visible by swirling dust (or dirt or sand) picked up from the ground.
Etymology
From dust + devil.
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
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Using “dust devil”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-U-S-T- -D-E-V-I-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /dʌst ˈdɛvəl/ (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.