tall
/tɔːl/
"tall" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tall” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,921 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #2,921
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 3
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Having a vertical extent greater than the average. For example, somebody with a height of over 6 feet would generally be considered to be tall.
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 | tall |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /tɔːl/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #2,921 |
| Misspellings tracked | 3 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tall” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for tall is 4 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /tɔːl/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,921 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 3 likely wrong-spelling variants for tall, with forms such as "atll", "tlal", and "ttall". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "TL", "tax", "tap", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English tall, talle, tal (“seemly, becoming, handsome, good-looking, excellent, good, valiant, lively in speech, bold, great, large, big”), from Old English *tæl, ġetæl (“swift, ready, having mastery of”), from Proto-Germanic *talaz (“submissive… The correct English form is tall, spelled T-A-L-L.
Definition
- 1Having a vertical extent greater than the average. For example, somebody with a height of over 6 feet would generally be considered to be tall.
- 2Having its top a long way up; having a great vertical (and often greater than horizontal) extent.
- 3Hard to believe, such as a tall story or a tall tale.
- 4Smaller than grande, usually 8 ounces (~ 230 ml).
- 5Obsequious; obedient.
- 6Seemly; suitable; fitting, becoming, comely; attractive, handsome.
- 7Bold; brave; courageous; valiant.
- 8Fine; proper; admirable; great; excellent.
Etymology
From Middle English tall, talle, tal (“seemly, becoming, handsome, good-looking, excellent, good, valiant, lively in speech, bold, great, large, big”), from Old English *tæl, ġetæl (“swift, ready, having mastery of”), from Proto-Germanic *talaz (“submissive, pliable, obedient”), from Proto-Indo-European *dol-, *del- (“to aim, calculate, adjust, reckon”). Cognate with Scots tal (“high, lofty, tall”), Old Frisian tel (“swift”), Old Saxon gital (“quick”), Old High German gizal (“active, agile”), Gothic 𐌿𐌽𐍄𐌰𐌻𐍃 (untals, “indocile, disobedient”). The Oxford English Dictionary notes: "The sense development [of tall] is remarkable, but is paralleled more or less by that of other adjectives expressing estimation, such as buxom, canny, clean, clever, cunning, deft, elegant, handsome, pretty, proper; German klein, as compared with English clean, presents the antithesis to modern tall as compared to tall in early Middle English. It has been conjectured that in the sense 'high of stature' it is a different word, adopted from the Welsh tal in some sense; but the latter is, according to Professor Rhŷs, merely a 16th-century borrowing of the English word (in Owen Pughe's Dictionary erroneously mixed up with the genuine Welsh word tal (“end, brow, forehead”), with which it has no possible connection.)"
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: atll,tlal,ttall
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tall - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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
How do you spell "tall"?
What does "tall" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "tall"?
How do you pronounce "tall"?
What is the origin of the word "tall"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “tall”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-A-L-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /tɔːl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “TL” - see the side-by-side comparison. tall vs TL
- 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.