rakish
/ˈɹeɪkɪʃ/
"rakish" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“rakish” is uncommon English (frequency #94,165 among 21,470 “R” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #94,165
- frequency rank, English
- 21,470
- “R” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Dashingly, carelessly, or sportingly unconventional or stylish; jaunty; characterized by a devil-may-care unconventionality; having a somewhat disreputable quality or appearance.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | rakish |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈɹeɪkɪʃ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #94,165 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “rakish” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
rakish is uncommon English at frequency #94,165 among 21,470 “R” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈɹeɪkɪʃ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
rakish has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From rake (“man habituated to immoral conduct”) + -ish. The correct English form is rakish, spelled R-A-K-I-S-H.
Definition
- 1Dashingly, carelessly, or sportingly unconventional or stylish; jaunty; characterized by a devil-may-care unconventionality; having a somewhat disreputable quality or appearance.
- 2Like a rake; dissolute; profligate.
Etymology
From rake (“man habituated to immoral conduct”) + -ish.
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 “rakish”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-A-K-I-S-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɹeɪkɪʃ/ (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.