Mardi Gras
/ˈmɑːdi ɡɹɑː/
"mardi-gras" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Mardi Gras” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The day when traditionally all fat and meat in the house were finished up, before Christians were banned from eating them during Lent, which commenced the following day on Ash Wednesday.
Corpus desk
Index EN-mardi-gras · Mardi Gras · English
Mardi Gras · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "M" 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 | Mardi Gras |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈmɑːdi ɡɹɑː/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “Mardi Gras” in English
Rare enough to double-check
Mardi Gras is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aproper noun, transcribed /ˈmɑːdi ɡɹɑː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for Mardi Gras in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French mardi gras (literally “fat Tuesday”). The correct English form is Mardi Gras, spelled M-A-R-D-I- -G-R-A-S.
Definition
- 1The day when traditionally all fat and meat in the house were finished up, before Christians were banned from eating them during Lent, which commenced the following day on Ash Wednesday.
- 2The last day of a carnival, traditionally the celebration immediately before the start of Lent when joy would be out of place for Christians.
- 3A carnival.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how Mardi Gras appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Mardi-gras was ushered in with various ceremonies, offering a strange mixture of devotion and profaneness.
Dancing, fiddling, and feasting at Christmas and on Mardi-gras, before Lent, and feasting at or after Easter, are among their amusements or indulgences.
Etymology
Borrowed from French mardi gras (literally “fat Tuesday”).
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.