speakeasy
"speakeasy" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“speakeasy” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #48,500 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #48,500
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An illegal saloon or tavern, especially one operated during the American Prohibition period in the 1920s.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | speakeasy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #48,500 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “speakeasy” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for speakeasy is 9 letters long, classified as a noun. Corpus data places it at rank #48,500 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "An illegal saloon or tavern, especially one operated during the American Prohibition period in the 1920s.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for speakeasy, with forms such as "pseakeasy", "sepakeasy", and "spaekeasy". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "speakers", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Deverbal from speak easy (= speak quietly [interj.]); for the history, see Wikipedia at speakeasy § Etymology. The correct English form is speakeasy, spelled S-P-E-A-K-E-A-S-Y.
Definition
- 1An illegal saloon or tavern, especially one operated during the American Prohibition period in the 1920s.
Etymology
Deverbal from speak easy (= speak quietly [interj.]); for the history, see Wikipedia at speakeasy § Etymology.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: pseakeasy,sepakeasy,spaekeasy,speaekasy,speakaesy,speakeassy,speakeasyy,speakeays,speakesay,speakkeasy,spekaeasy,sppeakeasy,sspeakeasy
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of speakeasy - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "speakeasy"?
What does "speakeasy" mean?
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Using “speakeasy”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-P-E-A-K-E-A-S-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Don't mix it up with “speakers” - see the side-by-side comparison. speakeasy vs speakers
- 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.