fruitcake
/ˈfɹuːt.keɪk/
"fruitcake" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“fruitcake” is uncommon English (frequency #62,155 among 2,507 “F” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #62,155
- frequency rank, English
- 2,507
- “F” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A cake containing dried fruits and, optionally, nuts, citrus peel and spice; usually served in celebration of weddings and Christmas.
Corpus desk
Index EN-fruitcake · fruitcake · English
fruitcake · rank #62,155 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #62,155
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,507
- PHOTO-FINISH frightfully
Nearest frequency peer: frightfully (-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 “fruitcake”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- freckle
freckle
37,850 corpus weight
- freckled
freckled
37,849 corpus weight
- frightfully
frightfully
37,847 corpus weight
- fruitcake
fruitcake
37,846 corpus weight
- Funke
Funke
37,843 corpus weight
- furore
furore
37,842 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “fruitcake” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fruitcake |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfɹuːt.keɪk/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #62,155 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “fruitcake” in English
Rare enough to double-check
fruitcake is uncommon English at frequency #62,155 among 2,507 “F” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈfɹuːt.keɪk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
fruitcake has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Compound of fruit + cake. First attested in c. 1687. Sense 2, predated by nutty as a fruitcake, was first attested in c. 1952. The correct English form is fruitcake, spelled F-R-U-I-T-C-A-K-E.
Definition
- 1A cake containing dried fruits and, optionally, nuts, citrus peel and spice; usually served in celebration of weddings and Christmas.
- 2A crazy or eccentric person.
- 3A homosexual male.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how fruitcake appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Easy, feller, easy. She's a fruitcake.
One of the loafers kept calling down, "Hey you, Blondie, you like fruitcake kids like that?"
Etymology
Compound of fruit + cake. First attested in c. 1687. Sense 2, predated by nutty as a fruitcake, was first attested in c. 1952.
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 "fruitcake", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).