piece of cake

/ˈpiːsə(v)ˈkeɪk/

//ˈpiːsə(v)ˈkeɪk// noun

"piece-of-cake" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency English
13
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A job, task or other activity that is pleasant or, by extension, easy or simple.

Corpus desk

Index EN-piece-of-cake · piece of cake · English

piece of cake · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "P" 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 piece of cake
PropertyValue
Headwordpiece of cake
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpiːsə(v)ˈkeɪk/
Letters13
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “piece of cake” in English

piece of cakesits 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

piece of cake is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpiːsə(v)ˈkeɪk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for piece of cake, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Attested since 1936, originally in American English. Possibly from cakewalk, or the notion of facility that derives from many cakes having agreeable tastes, and hence being ‘easy’ to consume. Compare French être du gâteau (literally “to be a cake”), être de… The correct English form is piece of cake, spelled P-I-E-C-E- -O-F- -C-A-K-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A job, task or other activity that is pleasant or, by extension, easy or simple.
  2. 2
    Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see piece, cake.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Sure, no problem. It'll be a piece of cake.
  2. Dennis's enthusiasm was difficult for Ryan to manage, but Javier's angsty Victorian-era man-pain is a piece of cake.

Etymology

Attested since 1936, originally in American English. Possibly from cakewalk, or the notion of facility that derives from many cakes having agreeable tastes, and hence being ‘easy’ to consume. Compare French être du gâteau (literally “to be a cake”), être de la tarte (literally “to be a pie”), both meaning "to be easy, to be a piece of cake".

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 "piece of cake"?
"piece of cake" is spelled P-I-E-C-E- -O-F- -C-A-K-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpiːsə(v)ˈkeɪk/.
What does "piece of cake" mean?
As a noun, "piece of cake" means: A job, task or other activity that is pleasant or, by extension, easy or simple.
How do you pronounce "piece of cake"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "piece of cake" is /ˈpiːsə(v)ˈkeɪk/. 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 "piece of cake"?
Attested since 1936, originally in American English. Possibly from cakewalk, or the notion of facility that derives from many cakes having agreeable tastes, and hence being ‘easy’ to consume. Compare French être du gâteau (literally “to be a cake”... 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