tactful
/ˈtæktfəl/adjective
tactful is spelled T-A-C-T-F-U-L: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,633rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, tactful means “Possessing tact; able to deal with people in a sensitive manner” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in tactful?
| Letters | 7: T-A-C-T-F-U-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 47,633rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is tactful?
Tactful appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 47,633rd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce tactful?
- /ˈtæktfəl/
Tactful has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-tactful.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of tactful
- more tactful comparative
- most tactful superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tactful mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Possessing tact; able to deal with people in a sensitive manner.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tactful in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense possessing tact:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | plein de tact, diplomatique |
| German | taktvoll |
| Spanish | de / con tacto (mucho), con gracia, tener tacto (mucho), (abundante) de tacto |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does tactful come from?
From tact + -ful.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).