tassel
/ˈtæsəl/
"tassel" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tassel” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #42,447 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #42,447
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 10
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A ball-shaped bunch of plaited or otherwise entangled threads from which at one end protrudes a cord on which the ball is hung, and which may have loose, dangling threads at the other end (often us...
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 | tassel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈtæsəl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #42,447 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “tassel” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for tassel is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈtæsəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #42,447 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for tassel, with forms such as "atssel", "tasel", and "tasesl". 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 10 confusable-pair relationships, "taste", "tastes", "tossed", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English tassel, from Old French tassel, from Latin tāxillus (“small cube”), from tālus (“ankle”). The correct English form is tassel, spelled T-A-S-S-E-L.
Definition
- 1A ball-shaped bunch of plaited or otherwise entangled threads from which at one end protrudes a cord on which the ball is hung, and which may have loose, dangling threads at the other end (often used as decoration along the bottom of garments, curtains or other hangings).
- 2The panicle on a male plant of maize, which consists of loose threads with anthers on them.
- 3The loose hairs at the end of a braid.
- 4A narrow silk ribbon, or similar, sewn to a book to be put between the pages.
- 5A piece of board that is laid upon a wall as a sort of plate, to give a level surface to the ends of floor timbers.
- 6A kind of bur used in dressing cloth; a teasel.
- 7A thin plate of gold on the back of a bishop's gloves.
Etymology
From Middle English tassel, from Old French tassel, from Latin tāxillus (“small cube”), from tālus (“ankle”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: atssel,tasel,tasesl,tassell,tassle,tsasel,ttassel
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tassel - 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 "tassel"?
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Using “tassel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-A-S-S-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈtæsəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “taste” - see the side-by-side comparison. tassel vs taste
- 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.