English Word Reference Free

facade

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

6 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

open dictionary

Access

Free

no sign-up needed

Detailed reference entry for the English word "facade", 6-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "facade" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "facade" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

facade is aEnglishnoun. It means: The face of a building, especially the front view or elevation. Pronounced /fəˈsɑːd/. Often confused with face and fade.

Key facts for facade
PropertyValue
Headwordfacade
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/fəˈsɑːd/
Letters6
Frequency rank#16,706
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of facade in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for facade is 6 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /fəˈsɑːd/. Corpus data places it at rank #16,706 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.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 8 documented wrong-spelling variants for facade, with forms such as "afcade", "faacde", and "facadde". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "face", "fade", "faced", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French façade, from Italian facciata, a derivation of faccia (“front”), from Latin faciēs (“face”); compare face. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is facade, spelled F-A-C-A-D-E, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    The face of a building, especially the front view or elevation.
  2. 2
    The face or front (most visible side) of any other thing, such as the prospect of an organ.
  3. 3
    A deceptive or insincere outward appearance.
  4. 4
    An object serving as a simplified interface to a larger body of code, as in the facade pattern.

Etymology

Borrowed from French façade, from Italian facciata, a derivation of faccia (“front”), from Latin faciēs (“face”); compare face.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: afcade,faacde,facadde,facaed,faccade,facdae,fcaade,ffacade

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for facade

Misspelling Variants of "facade"

afcade6faacde6facadde7facaed6faccade7facdae6fcaade6ffacade7
Misspelling Variants of "facade"

Frequency rank: #16,706 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "facade"?
"facade" is spelled F-A-C-A-D-E. The IPA pronunciation is /fəˈsɑːd/.
What does "facade" mean?
As a noun, "facade" means: The face of a building, especially the front view or elevation.
What words are commonly confused with "facade"?
"facade" is commonly confused with "face", "fade", "faced". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "facade"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "facade" is /fəˈsɑːd/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "facade"?
Borrowed from French façade, from Italian facciata, a derivation of faccia (“front”), from Latin faciēs (“face”); compare face. 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter F in our English index:

Explore PlainSpell

Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.