rictus
/ˈɹɪk.təs/
"rictus" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“rictus” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A bird’s gaping mouth.
Corpus desk
Index EN-rictus · rictus · English
rictus · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "R" 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | rictus |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɹɪk.təs/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “rictus” in English
Rare enough to double-check
rictus is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɹɪk.təs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for rictus in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Latin rictus. The correct English form is rictus, spelled R-I-C-T-U-S.
Definition
- 1A bird’s gaping mouth.
- 2The throat of a calyx.
- 3Any open-mouthed expression.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how rictus appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
His face was a rictus of sheer delight.
Amid a thick, bristling beard, a nose like an owl's beak and a mouth whose corners were drawn by a wild-beast-like rictus were just discernible.
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin rictus.
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.