rakish
/ˈɹeɪkɪʃ/
"rakish" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“rakish” is uncommon English (frequency #94,165 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #94,165
- frequency rank, English
- 3,094
- “R” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Dashingly, carelessly, or sportingly unconventional or stylish; jaunty; characterized by a devil-may-care unconventionality; having a somewhat disreputable quality or appearance.
Corpus desk
Index EN-rakish · rakish · English
rakish · rank #94,165 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #94,165
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,094
- PHOTO-FINISH Rameau
Nearest frequency peer: Rameau (+2 rank slots)
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.
Long-tail ranks near “rakish”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- quisling
quisling
5,842 corpus weight
- rachis
rachis
5,840 corpus weight
- rakish
rakish
5,836 corpus weight
- Rameau
Rameau
5,834 corpus weight
- ratepayer
ratepayer
5,832 corpus weight
- ravin
ravin
5,831 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “rakish” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| 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) |
Long-tail rank of “rakish” in English
Rare enough to double-check
rakish is uncommon English at frequency #94,165 among 3,094 “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.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how rakish appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I did not catch what was going on at first, and was, therefore, extremely surprised at noticing George hurriedly smooth out his trousers, ruffle up his hair, and stick his cap on in a rakish manner at the back of his head, and then, assuming an expression of mingled affability and sadness, sit down in a graceful attitude, and try to hide his feet.
A little later a rakish young workman, with a goatee beard and a swagger, lit his clay pipe at the lamp before descending into the street.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "rakish", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).