parfait
/ˈpɑːfeɪ/
"parfait" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“parfait” is uncommon English (frequency #54,378 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #54,378
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A French parfait (parfait glacé), an iced dessert made with egg yolks, sugar, cream, and flavouring (usually fruit), sometimes with the addition of a liqueur.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | parfait |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpɑːfeɪ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #54,378 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “parfait” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
parfait is uncommon English at frequency #54,378 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpɑːfeɪ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for parfait in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: Unadapted borrowing from French parfait (“perfect”). Doublet of parfit, perfect, perfecto, and perfectus. The correct English form is parfait, spelled P-A-R-F-A-I-T.
Definition
- 1A French parfait (parfait glacé), an iced dessert made with egg yolks, sugar, cream, and flavouring (usually fruit), sometimes with the addition of a liqueur.
- 2An American parfait, a layered dessert often consisting of fruit, ice cream, pastries, whipped topping, etc. and served in a glass, often a parfait glass.
- 3A smooth pâté, usually made from liver and flavoured with liqueurs.
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French parfait (“perfect”). Doublet of parfit, perfect, perfecto, and perfectus.
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 “parfait”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-A-R-F-A-I-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpɑːfeɪ/ (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
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.