taboo
/təˈbuː/
"taboo" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“taboo” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #15,715. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #15,715
- frequency rank, English
- 3,151
- “T” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 18
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - An inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion.
Corpus desk
Index EN-taboo · taboo · English
taboo · rank #15,715 · 6 variants · 18 confusables
- FREQ-MID #15,715
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 18 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,151
- PHOTO-FINISH swung
Nearest frequency peer: swung (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “taboo”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- summons
summons
84,289 corpus weight
- Sutherland
Sutherland
84,288 corpus weight
- swung
swung
84,287 corpus weight
- taboo
taboo
84,286 corpus weight
- teaser
teaser
84,285 corpus weight
- thatcher
thatcher
84,284 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “taboo” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | taboo |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /təˈbuː/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #15,715 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 18 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “taboo” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around taboo (IPA /təˈbuː/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #15,715 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for taboo, with forms such as "atboo", "tabboo", and "tabo". 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 18 confusable-pair relationships, "too", "tao", "taco", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Tongan tapu (“prohibited, sacred”), from Proto-Polynesian *tapu, from Proto-Oceanic *tabu, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *tambu. Doublet of kapu. First attested in c. 1777. The p in the Tongan source was misheard as b. The correct English form is taboo, spelled T-A-B-O-O.
Definition
- 1An inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion.
- 2Something which may not be used, approached or mentioned because it is sacred.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how taboo appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
It is true indeed that a taboo - in order to be a proper taboo - must not rest in the general mind on argument or reason.
So among the Alfoors of the island of Buru it is taboo to mention the names of parents and parents-in-law, or even to speak of common objects by words which resemble these names in sound.
Etymology
Borrowed from Tongan tapu (“prohibited, sacred”), from Proto-Polynesian *tapu, from Proto-Oceanic *tabu, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *tambu. Doublet of kapu. First attested in c. 1777. The p in the Tongan source was misheard as b.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- atboo
- tabboo
- tabo
- taobo
- tbaoo
- ttaboo
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of taboo - 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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "taboo", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).
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.