patchouli
/pəˈt͡ʃuli/
"patchouli" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“patchouli” is uncommon English (frequency #57,626 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #57,626
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of several East Indian plants in the genus Pogostemon, especially Pogostemon cablin, which yield a highly fragrant oil.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | patchouli |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /pəˈt͡ʃuli/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #57,626 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “patchouli” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
patchouli is uncommon English at frequency #57,626 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /pəˈt͡ʃuli/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for patchouli in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Tamil பச்சுளி (paccuḷi). The correct English form is patchouli, spelled P-A-T-C-H-O-U-L-I.
Definition
- 1Any of several East Indian plants in the genus Pogostemon, especially Pogostemon cablin, which yield a highly fragrant oil.
- 2The oil or perfume made from these plants.
Etymology
From Tamil பச்சுளி (paccuḷi).
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 “patchouli”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-A-T-C-H-O-U-L-I - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /pəˈt͡ʃuli/ (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.