# tact

> English word · Noun · IPA /tækt/ · frequency rank #26,277

## Definitions
1. Sensitive mental touch; special skill or faculty; keen perception or discernment; ready power of appreciating and doing what is required by circumstances; the ability to say the right thing and avoid statements that will give offence or pain even if true.
2. Propriety; manners (etiquette).

## Etymology
Borrowed from French tact, following a semantic shift from earlier tact (“sense of touch; feeling”), borrowed from Latin tāctus (“touched”). The borrowing was likely influenced by earlier English tact (“sense of touch; feeling”), which was a parallel borrowing directly from the Latin.

## Easily confused with
- **TT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tact-vs-tt)
- **TC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tact-vs-tc)
- **tax** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tact-vs-tax)
- **tag** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tact-vs-tag)
- **tap** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tact-vs-tap)
- **tan** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tact-vs-tan)
- **tar** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tact-vs-tar)
- **tad** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tact-vs-tad)
- **tai** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tact-vs-tai)
- **tao** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tact-vs-tao)
- **tit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tact-vs-tit)
- **tat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tact-vs-tat)
- **THC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tact-vs-thc)
- **TNT** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tact-vs-tnt)
- **taj** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tact-vs-taj)
- **TLC** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tact-vs-tlc)
- **tau** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tact-vs-tau)
- **tam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tact-vs-tam)
- **Tal** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tact-vs-tal)
- **tak** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tact-vs-tak)

## Common misspellings (6)
`atct`, `tacct`, `tactt`, `tatc`, `tcat`, `ttact`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/tact