jigsaw puzzle

noun

"jigsaw-puzzle" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency English
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A type of puzzle in which the aim is to reconstruct a picture that has been cut (originally, with a jigsaw) into many small interlocking pieces.

Corpus desk

Index EN-jigsaw-puzzle · jigsaw puzzle · English

jigsaw puzzle · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "J" 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 jigsaw puzzle
PropertyValue
Headwordjigsaw puzzle
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “jigsaw puzzle” in English

jigsaw puzzlesits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

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

Rare enough to double-check

jigsaw puzzle is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for jigsaw puzzle, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: jigsaw + puzzle The correct English form is jigsaw puzzle, spelled J-I-G-S-A-W- -P-U-Z-Z-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A type of puzzle in which the aim is to reconstruct a picture that has been cut (originally, with a jigsaw) into many small interlocking pieces.
  2. 2
    An alphabetical jigsaw; a crossword in which the clues are not numbered and the solver must work out where each solution fits in the grid.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The grid is designed so as to make this a genuine challenge: there are six words each of four to nine letters, and nothing longer – normally it’s the long lights that are the key to a jigsaw puzzle.
  2. There is also the restriction with alphabeticals that the online interactive program for solving puzzles cannot cope with them, because the software is written on the basis that every numbered clue corresponds to the matching numbered slot in the grid. As this cannot be the case with a jigsaw puzzle, when it is faced by one the system has a nervous breakd…

Etymology

jigsaw + puzzle

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

How do you spell "jigsaw puzzle"?
"jigsaw puzzle" is spelled J-I-G-S-A-W- -P-U-Z-Z-L-E.
What does "jigsaw puzzle" mean?
As a noun, "jigsaw puzzle" means: A type of puzzle in which the aim is to reconstruct a picture that has been cut (originally, with a jigsaw) into many small interlocking pieces.
What is the origin of the word "jigsaw puzzle"?
jigsaw + puzzle See the full etymology section above for more details.
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