natter
/ˈnætɚ/
"natter" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“natter” is an uncommon English word, ranked #80,695 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #80,695
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To talk casually; to discuss unimportant matters.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | natter |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈnætɚ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #80,695 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “natter” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for natter is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈnætɚ/. Corpus data places it at rank #80,695 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No misspelling variants are generated for natter in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From a Northern England dialectal variant of gnatter (also knatter) ("to chatter, grumble; nibble away at"), ultimately of imitative origin. Cognate with German Low German gnattern (“to mumble, grumble, be grouchy”). The correct English form is natter, spelled N-A-T-T-E-R.
Definition
- 1To talk casually; to discuss unimportant matters.
- 2To nag.
Etymology
From a Northern England dialectal variant of gnatter (also knatter) ("to chatter, grumble; nibble away at"), ultimately of imitative origin. Cognate with German Low German gnattern (“to mumble, grumble, be grouchy”).
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); 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
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Using “natter”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is N-A-T-T-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈnætɚ/ (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.