muffle

/mʌfl̩/

//mʌfl̩// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"muffle" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“muffle” is uncommon English (frequency #68,466 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#68,466
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Anything that mutes or deadens sound.

Corpus desk

Index EN-muffle · muffle · English

muffle · rank #68,466 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #68,466
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH multiethnic

Nearest frequency peer: multiethnic (+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 “muffle”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “muffle” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for muffle
PropertyValue
Headwordmuffle
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/mʌfl̩/
Letters6
Frequency rank#68,466
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “muffle” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).mufflefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “multiethnic” (#68,467), “Moskva” (#68,461), “mycorrhizal” (#68,471). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “muffle” is #68,466. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

muffle is uncommon English at frequency #68,466 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /mʌfl̩/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 6 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for muffle in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English muflen (“to muffle”), aphetic alteration of Anglo-Norman amoufler, from Old French enmoufler (“to wrap up, muffle”), from moufle (“mitten”), from Medieval Latin muffula (“a muff”), of Germanic origin (—first recorded in the Capitulary of… The correct English form is muffle, spelled M-U-F-F-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Anything that mutes or deadens sound.
  2. 2
    A warm piece of clothing for the hands.
  3. 3
    A boxing glove.
  4. 4
    A kiln or furnace, often electric, with no direct flames (a muffle furnace)
  5. 5
    The bare end of the nose between the nostrils, especially in ruminants.
  6. 6
    A machine with two pulleys to hoist load by spinning wheels, polyspast, block and tackle.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. N.B.—Mr Broughton proposes, with proper assistance, to open an academy at his house in the Haymarket, for the instruction of those who are willing to be initiated in the mystery of boxing: […] muffles are provided, that will effectually secure them from the inconveniency of black eyes, broken jaws, and bloody noses.
  2. Between the two pulleys c, c¹, and around the shaft a, is a muffle d, which receives at both ends the rounded heads of three, four, five, or more screws f, which act as levers. The levers are formed of a right and lefthanded screw, f, and f¹. The two screws are united together by means of a nut g, so that, by turning it, they are lengthened or shortened.…

Etymology

From Middle English muflen (“to muffle”), aphetic alteration of Anglo-Norman amoufler, from Old French enmoufler (“to wrap up, muffle”), from moufle (“mitten”), from Medieval Latin muffula (“a muff”), of Germanic origin (—first recorded in the Capitulary of Aachen in 817 C.E.), from Frankish *muffël (“a muff, wrap, envelope”) from *mauwa (“sleeve, wrap”) (from Proto-Germanic *mawwō (“sleeve”)) + *vël (“skin, hide”) (from Proto-Germanic *fellą (“skin, film, fleece”). Alternate etymology traces the Medieval Latin word to Frankish *molfell (“soft garment made of hide”) from *mol (“softened, forworn”) (akin to Old High German molawēn (“to soften”), Middle High German molwic (“soft”), English mulch) + *fell (“hide, skin”).

This word in other languages

mufla(Español)

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

How do you spell "muffle"?
"muffle" is spelled M-U-F-F-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /mʌfl̩/.
What does "muffle" mean?
As a noun, "muffle" means: Anything that mutes or deadens sound.
How do you pronounce "muffle"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "muffle" is /mʌfl̩/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "muffle"?
From Middle English muflen (“to muffle”), aphetic alteration of Anglo-Norman amoufler, from Old French enmoufler (“to wrap up, muffle”), from moufle (“mitten”), from Medieval Latin muffula (“a muff”), of Germanic origin (—first recorded in the Cap... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "muffle", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Moskva#68,461Nadeem#68,472necker#68,479Ostend#68,503

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list