repartee
/ˌɹɛpɑɹˈteɪ/
"repartee" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“repartee” is uncommon English (frequency #71,056 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #71,056
- frequency rank, English
- 3,094
- “R” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A swift, witty reply, especially one that is amusing.
Corpus desk
Index EN-repartee · repartee · English
repartee · rank #71,056 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #71,056
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,094
- PHOTO-FINISH repack
Nearest frequency peer: repack (-1 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 “repartee”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Reitman
Reitman
28,950 corpus weight
- repack
repack
28,946 corpus weight
- repartee
repartee
28,945 corpus weight
- repercussion
repercussion
28,944 corpus weight
- repro
repro
28,943 corpus weight
- requester
requester
28,942 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “repartee” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | repartee |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌɹɛpɑɹˈteɪ/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #71,056 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “repartee” in English
Rare enough to double-check
repartee is uncommon English at frequency #71,056 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌɹɛpɑɹˈteɪ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for repartee, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French repartie, a deverbal of repartir (“to retort”). The correct English form is repartee, spelled R-E-P-A-R-T-E-E.
Definition
- 1A swift, witty reply, especially one that is amusing.
- 2A conversation marked by a series of witty retorts.
- 3A skill in replying swiftly and wittily.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how repartee appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Many persons must laugh when a great person or an acknowledged wit says a clever thing, such as a smart repartee, or a really good pun.
Yet habit—strange thing! what cannot habit accomplish?—Gayer sallies, more merry mirth, better jokes, and brighter repartees, you never heard over your mahogany[…]
Etymology
From French repartie, a deverbal of repartir (“to retort”).
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 "repartee", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).