foretell
/fɔɹˈtɛl/
"foretell" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“foretell” is uncommon English (frequency #65,902 among 2,507 “F” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #65,902
- frequency rank, English
- 2,507
- “F” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To predict; to tell (the future) before it occurs; to prophesy.
Corpus desk
Index EN-foretell · foretell · English
foretell · rank #65,902 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #65,902
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,507
- PHOTO-FINISH Fonder
Nearest frequency peer: Fonder (-1 rank slots)
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.
Long-tail ranks near “foretell”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Fonder
Fonder
34,100 corpus weight
- foretell
foretell
34,099 corpus weight
- frill
frill
34,097 corpus weight
- fuckface
fuckface
34,095 corpus weight
- fusarium
fusarium
34,094 corpus weight
- Gaas
Gaas
34,093 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “foretell” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | foretell |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /fɔɹˈtɛl/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #65,902 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “foretell” in English
Rare enough to double-check
foretell is uncommon English at frequency #65,902 among 2,507 “F” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /fɔɹˈtɛl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for foretell, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: c. 1300, from Middle English foretellen, equivalent to fore- + tell. The correct English form is foretell, spelled F-O-R-E-T-E-L-L.
Definition
- 1To predict; to tell (the future) before it occurs; to prophesy.
- 2To tell (a person) of the future.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how foretell appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Deeds then undone me faithful tongue foretold.
Prodigies, foretelling the future eminence and lustre of his character.
Etymology
c. 1300, from Middle English foretellen, equivalent to fore- + tell.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "foretell", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).