taunt
/tɔːnt/
"taunt" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“taunt” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #30,616. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #30,616
- frequency rank, English
- 3,151
- “T” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To make fun of (someone); to goad (a person) into responding, often in an aggressive manner.
Corpus desk
Index EN-taunt · taunt · English
taunt · rank #30,616 · 7 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #30,616
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,151
- PHOTO-FINISH Talmud
Nearest frequency peer: Talmud (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “taunt”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- talker
talker
69,387 corpus weight
- Talmud
Talmud
69,386 corpus weight
- taunt
taunt
69,385 corpus weight
- tensile
tensile
69,383 corpus weight
- tether
tether
69,382 corpus weight
- thundering
thundering
69,380 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “taunt” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | taunt |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /tɔːnt/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #30,616 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “taunt” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around taunt (IPA /tɔːnt/), averb. Corpus frequency is #30,616 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Dominant gloss: "To make fun of (someone); to goad (a person) into responding, often in an aggressive manner.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for taunt, with forms such as "atunt", "tanut", and "taunnt". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "TNT", "tun", "tut", 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 French tanter (“to tempt, try, provoke”), variant of Old French tempter (“to try”). Doublet of tempt. The correct English form is taunt, spelled T-A-U-N-T.
Definition
- 1To make fun of (someone); to goad (a person) into responding, often in an aggressive manner.
Etymology
From Middle French tanter (“to tempt, try, provoke”), variant of Old French tempter (“to try”). Doublet of tempt.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- atunt
- tanut
- taunnt
- tauntt
- tautn
- ttaunt
- tuant
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of taunt - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "taunt"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "taunt", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "taunt". Here's where to go from here.
- "taunt" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "TNT". View pair
- 7 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #30,616 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "T" letter cohort. T–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.