rufous
/ˈɹuːfəs/
"rufous" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“rufous” is an uncommon English word, ranked #60,435 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #60,435
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - of a reddish colour
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | rufous |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈɹuːfəs/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #60,435 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “rufous” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for rufous is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɹuːfəs/. Corpus data places it at rank #60,435 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "of a reddish colour".
No generated misspelling entries exist for rufous in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin rūfus (“red”). The correct English form is rufous, spelled R-U-F-O-U-S.
Definition
- 1of a reddish colour
Etymology
From Latin rūfus (“red”).
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 “rufous”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-U-F-O-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɹuːfəs/ (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.