gesticulate
/dʒɛsˈtɪkjʊleɪt/
"gesticulate" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“gesticulate” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To make gestures or motions, as in speaking.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | gesticulate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /dʒɛsˈtɪkjʊleɪt/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “gesticulate” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
gesticulate is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /dʒɛsˈtɪkjʊleɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
gesticulate has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin gesticulātus, perfect active participle of gesticulor (“to gesticulate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from gesticulus (“a mimic gesture”), diminutive of gestus (“gesture”), from gerō (“to bear, carry, perform”). The correct English form is gesticulate, spelled G-E-S-T-I-C-U-L-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To make gestures or motions, as in speaking.
- 2To say or express through gestures.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin gesticulātus, perfect active participle of gesticulor (“to gesticulate”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from gesticulus (“a mimic gesture”), diminutive of gestus (“gesture”), from gerō (“to bear, carry, perform”).
Synonyms
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
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Using “gesticulate”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-E-S-T-I-C-U-L-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /dʒɛsˈtɪkjʊleɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.