painted lady

noun

"painted-lady" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency English
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of certain cryptic patterned butterflies of genus Vanessa (family Nymphalidae), especially Vanessa cardui.

Key facts for painted lady
PropertyValue
Headwordpainted lady
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “painted lady” sits in English frequency

painted lady falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Rare enough to double-check

painted lady is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 6 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for painted lady, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is painted lady, spelled P-A-I-N-T-E-D- -L-A-D-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of certain cryptic patterned butterflies of genus Vanessa (family Nymphalidae), especially Vanessa cardui.
  2. 2
    A painted trillium (Trillium undulatum), a forest wildflower of North America.
  3. 3
    A flower of the pea family (Gompholobium scabrum), native to southwestern Australia.
  4. 4
    A prostitute (in reference to their use of makeup).
  5. 5
    A Victorian house repainted with vibrant colors to accentuate the architectural design, especially in San Francisco, California.
  6. 6
    A sea snail (Phasianella australis).

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 "painted lady"?
"painted lady" is spelled P-A-I-N-T-E-D- -L-A-D-Y.
What does "painted lady" mean?
As a noun, "painted lady" means: Any of certain cryptic patterned butterflies of genus Vanessa (family Nymphalidae), especially Vanessa cardui.
What language does "painted lady" come from?
"painted lady" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Using “painted lady”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is P-A-I-N-T-E-D- -L-A-D-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list