sackcloth
"sackcloth" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sackcloth” is uncommon English (frequency #83,702 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #83,702
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A coarse hessian style of cloth used to make sacks.
Corpus desk
Index EN-sackcloth · sackcloth · English
sackcloth · rank #83,702 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #83,702
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH Safar
Nearest frequency peer: Safar (+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 “sackcloth”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Rutherglen
Rutherglen
16,303 corpus weight
- Rydberg
Rydberg
16,302 corpus weight
- sackcloth
sackcloth
16,299 corpus weight
- Safar
Safar
16,298 corpus weight
- Samburu
Samburu
16,296 corpus weight
- sandlot
sandlot
16,293 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “sackcloth” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sackcloth |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #83,702 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “sackcloth” in English
Rare enough to double-check
sackcloth is uncommon English at frequency #83,702 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for sackcloth, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English sakcloth, sekcloth, sekclath, sekklath. By surface analysis, sack + cloth. The correct English form is sackcloth, spelled S-A-C-K-C-L-O-T-H.
Definition
- 1A coarse hessian style of cloth used to make sacks.
- 2Garments worn as an act of penance.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how sackcloth appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
After he realised the gravity of his crime he spent some time wearing sackcloth and ashes.
Next you saw her alone, a kneeling penitent at the foot of the crucifix; her long fair hair is unbound, and the sackcloth robe is girded by a cord round her slender shape: her hands are clasped, and tears are flowing fast from the quenched radiance of those shadowy eyes;...
Etymology
From Middle English sakcloth, sekcloth, sekclath, sekklath. By surface analysis, sack + cloth.
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 "sackcloth", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).