tableau
/ˈtæ.bləʊ/
"tableau" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tableau” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #32,205 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #32,205
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A striking and vivid representation or scene; a picture.
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 | tableau |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈtæ.bləʊ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #32,205 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tableau” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for tableau is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈtæ.bləʊ/. Corpus data places it at rank #32,205 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for tableau, with forms such as "atbleau", "tabbleau", and "tabelau". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "tables", "tablet", "tabled", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Unadapted borrowing from French tableau, from Old French tablel (“a surface which is used primarily for painting”). The correct English form is tableau, spelled T-A-B-L-E-A-U.
Definition
- 1A striking and vivid representation or scene; a picture.
- 2A vivid graphic scene of a group of people or objects arranged as in a painting or bas relief sculpture.
- 3An arrangement of actors in static positions on stage, having the effect of pointing up a particular moment in the drama, conventionally revealed by opening tableau curtains (known as "tabs").
- 4A two-dimensional array or table of data, usually numbers, of various specific kinds.
- 5A table that shows constraint violations of a list of candidates given an input and a constraint ranking.
- 6Mostly in solitaire card games, but also in other card and board games, the main area, where random cards can be arranged.
- 7A semantic tableau.
- 8A unit of a play, an opera, or a ballet with change of stage setting.
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French tableau, from Old French tablel (“a surface which is used primarily for painting”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: atbleau,tabbleau,tabelau,tablaeu,tableua,tablleau,talbeau,tbaleau,ttableau
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tableau - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 “tableau”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-A-B-L-E-A-U - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈtæ.bləʊ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “tables” - see the side-by-side comparison. tableau vs tables
- 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.