riposte
/ɹɪˈpəʊst/
"riposte" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“riposte” is an uncommon English word, ranked #57,023 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #57,023
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A thrust given in return after parrying an attack.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | riposte |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɹɪˈpəʊst/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #57,023 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “riposte” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for riposte is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹɪˈpəʊst/. Corpus data places it at rank #57,023 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for riposte, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French riposte, taken from Italian risposta, a derivative of the verb rispondere (“to respond”). The correct English form is riposte, spelled R-I-P-O-S-T-E.
Definition
- 1A thrust given in return after parrying an attack.
- 2A counter-attack in any combat or any sport.
- 3A quick and usually witty response to a taunt.
- 4An answer or reply, rapidly uttered, in response to a question or problem.
Etymology
From French riposte, taken from Italian risposta, a derivative of the verb rispondere (“to respond”).
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 “riposte”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-I-P-O-S-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɹɪˈpəʊst/ (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
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.