sextet

/sɛksˈtɛt/

//sɛksˈtɛt// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"sextet" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sextet” is uncommon English (frequency #69,439 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#69,439
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any group of six people or things.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sextet · sextet · English

sextet · rank #69,439 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #69,439
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sett

Nearest frequency peer: sett (-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 “sextet”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “sextet” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for sextet
PropertyValue
Headwordsextet
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/sɛksˈtɛt/
Letters6
Frequency rank#69,439
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “sextet” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).sextetfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “sett” (#69,438), “shabbos” (#69,440), “shepherding” (#69,441). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sextet” is #69,439. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

sextet is uncommon English at frequency #69,439 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /sɛksˈtɛt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

sextet doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French sextette, from Italian sestetto. The correct English form is sextet, spelled S-E-X-T-E-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any group of six people or things.
  2. 2
    A composition for six voices or instruments.
  3. 3
    A group of six singers or instrumentalists.

Etymology

From French sextette, from Italian sestetto.

Synonyms

hexad

This word in other languages

sexteto(Español)sextuor(Français)Sextett(Deutsch)

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

How do you spell "sextet"?
"sextet" is spelled S-E-X-T-E-T. The IPA pronunciation is /sɛksˈtɛt/.
What does "sextet" mean?
As a noun, "sextet" means: Any group of six people or things.
How do you pronounce "sextet"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sextet" is /sɛksˈtɛt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "sextet"?
From French sextette, from Italian sestetto. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "sextet", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Shmuel#69,444shying#69,447scrawl#69,429Schenk#69,421

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list