fortune teller

/ˈfɔːt͡ʃuːn ˈtɛlə/

//ˈfɔːt͡ʃuːn ˈtɛlə// noun

"fortune-teller" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“fortune teller” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A person who professes to predict the future in return for money.

Corpus desk

Index EN-fortune-teller · fortune teller · English

fortune teller · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 14 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "F" 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.

Key facts for fortune teller
PropertyValue
Headwordfortune teller
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈfɔːt͡ʃuːn ˈtɛlə/
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “fortune teller” in English

fortune tellerranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

fortune teller is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈfɔːt͡ʃuːn ˈtɛlə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for fortune teller in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is fortune teller, spelled F-O-R-T-U-N-E- -T-E-L-L-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A person who professes to predict the future in return for money.
  2. 2
    A cootie catcher.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how fortune teller appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. "Cross my palm with silver and I'll tell you your fortune," said the fortune teller.
  2. So I guess the fortune teller's right / I should've seen just what was there

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

How do you spell "fortune teller"?
"fortune teller" is spelled F-O-R-T-U-N-E- -T-E-L-L-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfɔːt͡ʃuːn ˈtɛlə/.
What does "fortune teller" mean?
As a noun, "fortune teller" means: A person who professes to predict the future in return for money.
How do you pronounce "fortune teller"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "fortune teller" is /ˈfɔːt͡ʃuːn ˈtɛlə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "fortune teller" come from?
"fortune teller" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list