duty-free
"duty-free" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“duty-free” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Exempt from duty, especially from customs duty.
Corpus desk
Index EN-duty-free · duty-free · English
duty-free · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | duty-free |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “duty-free” in English
Rare enough to double-check
duty-free is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Exempt from duty, especially from customs duty.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for duty-free, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From duty + -free. The correct English form is duty-free, spelled D-U-T-Y---F-R-E-E.
Definition
- 1Exempt from duty, especially from customs duty.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how duty-free appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
CBP told CNN it currently processes “nearly 4 million duty-free de minimis shipments a day.”
Etymology
From duty + -free.
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.