pastel
/ˈpæstl̩/
"pastel" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pastel” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #21,019 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #21,019
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of several subdued tints of colors, usually associated with pink, peach, yellow, green, blue, and lavender.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pastel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpæstl̩/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #21,019 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “pastel” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for pastel is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpæstl̩/. Corpus data places it at rank #21,019 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for pastel, with forms such as "apstel", "pasetl", and "passtel". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pate", "Patel", "Pavel", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French pastel, from Italian pastello (“pastel”), from Medieval Latin pastellum (“dough, paste”), from Latin pasta (“dough, paste”), ultimately from Ancient Greek πάστη (pástē, “dough, paste”). Doublet of pastegh, pastiglia, pastila, pastilla, … The correct English form is pastel, spelled P-A-S-T-E-L.
Definition
- 1Any of several subdued tints of colors, usually associated with pink, peach, yellow, green, blue, and lavender.
- 2A drawing made with any of those colors.
- 3A type of dried paste used to make crayons.
- 4A crayon made from such a paste.
- 5Woad.
Etymology
Borrowed from French pastel, from Italian pastello (“pastel”), from Medieval Latin pastellum (“dough, paste”), from Latin pasta (“dough, paste”), ultimately from Ancient Greek πάστη (pástē, “dough, paste”). Doublet of pastegh, pastiglia, pastila, pastilla, and pastille.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: apstel,pasetl,passtel,pastell,pastle,pasttel,patsel,ppastel,psatel
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of pastel - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "pastel"?
What does "pastel" mean?
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Using “pastel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-A-S-T-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpæstl̩/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “pate” - see the side-by-side comparison. pastel vs pate
- 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.