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 September 3, 2026) - To make gestures or motions, as in speaking.
Corpus desk
Index EN-gesticulate · gesticulate · English
gesticulate · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "G" 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | gesticulate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /dʒɛsˈtɪkjʊleɪt/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “gesticulate” in English
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.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how gesticulate appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
A "Haka" is the native dance, answering to the corroboree of the Australian aboriginals, and we were anxious to see it. […] Later in the evening, however, the complaisant Herekiekie entertained a small and select party at a "Haka" in his "whare" or house (pronounced wharry). It was exactly what I expected. The performers, all male, stood in a row, one, sl…
... groups of dancers were wheeling, plunging, and gesticulating while the ogre, more aphasic than before, mumbled at full strength ...
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.