shufti

/ˈʃʊf.ti/

//ˈʃʊf.ti// noun

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

The verdict

“shufti” 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 brief glance.

Corpus desk

Index EN-shufti · shufti · English

shufti · 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 "S" 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.

Key facts for shufti
PropertyValue
Headwordshufti
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈʃʊf.ti/
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “shufti” in English

shuftifalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

shufti is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈʃʊf.ti/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A brief glance.".

Zero misspellings are on record for shufti in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: UK 1940s, originally military slang. From Egyptian Arabic شُفْتِ، شُفْتِي (šufti, “have you seen?”, literally “you saw”), a conjugation of شَاف (šāf, “to see”). The correct English form is shufti, spelled S-H-U-F-T-I.

Definition

  1. 1
    A brief glance.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how shufti appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. "Perkins, we are asking you to be that one man. I want you to lay down your life, Perkins. We need a futile gesture at this stage. It will raise the whole tone of the war. Get up in a crate, Perkins, pop over to Bremen, take a shufti, don't come back. Goodbye, Perkins. God, I wish I was going too."
  2. "Caucasus mountains," said the driver. "I think. Let's have a shufti at the map."

Etymology

UK 1940s, originally military slang. From Egyptian Arabic شُفْتِ، شُفْتِي (šufti, “have you seen?”, literally “you saw”), a conjugation of شَاف (šāf, “to see”).

Synonyms

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "shufti"?
"shufti" is spelled S-H-U-F-T-I. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈʃʊf.ti/.
What does "shufti" mean?
As a noun, "shufti" means: A brief glance.
How do you pronounce "shufti"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "shufti" is /ˈʃʊf.ti/. 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 "shufti"?
UK 1940s, originally military slang. From Egyptian Arabic شُفْتِ، شُفْتِي (šufti, “have you seen?”, literally “you saw”), a conjugation of شَاف (šāf, “to see”). 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list