taffeta
/ˈtæ.fɪ.tə/
"taffeta" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“taffeta” is uncommon English (frequency #67,880 among 3,151 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #67,880
- frequency rank, English
- 3,151
- “T” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A crisp, smooth woven fabric made from silk or synthetic fibers.
Corpus desk
Index EN-taffeta · taffeta · English
taffeta · rank #67,880 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #67,880
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,151
- PHOTO-FINISH taff
Nearest frequency peer: taff (-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.
Long-tail ranks near “taffeta”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- synonymy
synonymy
32,126 corpus weight
- SYRIZA
SYRIZA
32,125 corpus weight
- taff
taff
32,122 corpus weight
- taffeta
taffeta
32,121 corpus weight
- tapir
tapir
32,119 corpus weight
- Tapp
Tapp
32,118 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “taffeta” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | taffeta |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈtæ.fɪ.tə/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #67,880 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “taffeta” in English
Rare enough to double-check
taffeta is uncommon English at frequency #67,880 among 3,151 “T” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈtæ.fɪ.tə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A crisp, smooth woven fabric made from silk or synthetic fibers.".
No misspelling variants are generated for taffeta in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Late Middle English, from Old French taffetas, from Medieval Latin taffata, from Classical Persian تافته (tāfta), from تافتن (tāftan). The correct English form is taffeta, spelled T-A-F-F-E-T-A.
Definition
- 1A crisp, smooth woven fabric made from silk or synthetic fibers.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how taffeta appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Could a Taff'ta ſcarf, a long Eſtridge vvhing, / A ſtiffe Iron Doublet, and a Brazeel Pole / Tempt thee from Cambrick ſheets, fine active Thighs, / From Caudles vvhere the precious Amber ſvvims?
I met her at lover's park / One rainy April Monday / Smiling soft and warm as on / A clear December Sunday / Wearing taffeta and lace
Etymology
From Late Middle English, from Old French taffetas, from Medieval Latin taffata, from Classical Persian تافته (tāfta), from تافتن (tāftan).
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "taffeta", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).