tattle

/ˈtæt(ə)l/

//ˈtæt(ə)l// verb

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"tattle" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tattle” is uncommon English (frequency #64,052 among 3,151 “T” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#64,052
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To chatter; to gossip.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tattle · tattle · English

tattle · rank #64,052 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #64,052
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH teahouse

Nearest frequency peer: teahouse (+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 “tattle”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “tattle” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for tattle
PropertyValue
Headwordtattle
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈtæt(ə)l/
Letters6
Frequency rank#64,052
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “tattle” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).tattlefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “teahouse” (#64,053), “tackler” (#64,049), “teleconference” (#64,056). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “tattle” is #64,052. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

tattle is uncommon English at frequency #64,052 among 3,151 “T” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈtæt(ə)l/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for tattle, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle Dutch tatelen, tateren (“to babble, chatter”) (modern Dutch tatelen, tateren (“to talk, chatter”)), originally imitative. The word is cognate with Saterland Frisian tätelje (“to talk nonsense, babble”), Middle Low German tāteren, tadderen (“to b… The correct English form is tattle, spelled T-A-T-T-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To chatter; to gossip.
  2. 2
    Often said of children: to report incriminating information about another person, or a person's wrongdoing in an annoying fashion, usually to a person in a position of authority over the accused person; to tell on somebody.
  3. 3
    To speak like a baby or young child; to babble, to prattle; to speak haltingly; to stutter.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how tattle appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. He were an excellent man that were made iuſt in the mid-way between him and Benedick, the one is too like an image and ſaies nothing, and the other too like my ladies eldeſt ſonne, euermore tatling.
  2. By this time, My Lord, I doubt not but that you wonder, why I have run off from my Biaſs ſo long together, and made ſo tedious a Digreſſion from Satire to Heroique Poetry. But if You will not excuſe it, by the tattling Quality of Age, which, as Sir William Davenant ſays, is always Narrative; yet I hope the uſefulneſs of what I have to ſay on this Subject,…

Etymology

From Middle Dutch tatelen, tateren (“to babble, chatter”) (modern Dutch tatelen, tateren (“to talk, chatter”)), originally imitative. The word is cognate with Saterland Frisian tätelje (“to talk nonsense, babble”), Middle Low German tāteren, tadderen (“to babble, chatter”) (whence modern German Low German tatern (“to chatter”)), Low German tateln, täteln (“to cackle, gabble”). Compare also Middle English dadel, dadull (“tattling, gossip”), and its alteration twaddle.

Synonyms

prattlerat out

This word in other languages

charlotear(Español)cafarder(Français)klatschen(Deutsch)bisbilhotar(Português)

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 "tattle"?
"tattle" is spelled T-A-T-T-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈtæt(ə)l/.
What does "tattle" mean?
As a verb, "tattle" means: To chatter; to gossip.
How do you pronounce "tattle"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tattle" is /ˈtæt(ə)l/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "tattle"?
From Middle Dutch tatelen, tateren (“to babble, chatter”) (modern Dutch tatelen, tateren (“to talk, chatter”)), originally imitative. The word is cognate with Saterland Frisian tätelje (“to talk nonsense, babble”), Middle Low German tāteren, tadde... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "tattle", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

storer#64,037Tomoko#64,067turgid#64,078Turton#64,079

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list