taboo
/təˈbuː/
"taboo" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“taboo” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,715 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #15,715
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 18
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An inhibition or ban that results from social custom or emotional aversion.
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
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for taboo is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /təˈbuː/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,715 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “taboo”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-A-B-O-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /təˈbuː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “too” - see the side-by-side comparison. taboo vs too
- 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.