nopales

/nəʊˈpɑːlɛz/

//nəʊˈpɑːlɛz// noun

"nopales" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency English
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The leaves of a prickly pear cactus, as used in Mexican cooking.

Corpus desk

Index EN-nopales · nopales · English

nopales · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "N" 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 nopales
PropertyValue
Headwordnopales
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/nəʊˈpɑːlɛz/
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “nopales” in English

nopalessits 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

nopales is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /nəʊˈpɑːlɛz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The leaves of a prickly pear cactus, as used in Mexican cooking.".

No misspelling variants are generated for nopales in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Spanish nopales, plural of nopal. The correct English form is nopales, spelled N-O-P-A-L-E-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    The leaves of a prickly pear cactus, as used in Mexican cooking.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. After a day and a half's journey, El Espinero led Frank to a long-abandoned silver working, high over the plain, where nopales grew and lizards lay in the sun.

Etymology

From Spanish nopales, plural of nopal.

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 "nopales"?
"nopales" is spelled N-O-P-A-L-E-S. The IPA pronunciation is /nəʊˈpɑːlɛz/.
What does "nopales" mean?
As a noun, "nopales" means: The leaves of a prickly pear cactus, as used in Mexican cooking.
How do you pronounce "nopales"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "nopales" is /nəʊˈpɑːlɛz/. 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 "nopales"?
From Spanish nopales, plural of nopal. 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