taciturn
/ˈtæsɪtɜːn/
"taciturn" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“taciturn” is an uncommon English word, ranked #61,851 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #61,851
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Silent; temperamentally untalkative; disinclined to speak.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | taciturn |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈtæsɪtɜːn/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #61,851 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “taciturn” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for taciturn is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈtæsɪtɜːn/. Corpus data places it at rank #61,851 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Silent; temperamentally untalkative; disinclined to speak.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for taciturn, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Back-formation from taciturnity, from Middle English taciturnite, from Latin taciturnitās; or alternatively from French taciturne, likely reinforced by Latin taciturnus, from tacitus (“secret, tacit”). The correct English form is taciturn, spelled T-A-C-I-T-U-R-N.
Definition
- 1Silent; temperamentally untalkative; disinclined to speak.
Etymology
Back-formation from taciturnity, from Middle English taciturnite, from Latin taciturnitās; or alternatively from French taciturne, likely reinforced by Latin taciturnus, from tacitus (“secret, tacit”).
This word in other languages
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 “taciturn”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-A-C-I-T-U-R-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈtæsɪtɜːn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.