teetotal
/ˌtiːˈtəʊtəl/
"teetotal" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“teetotal” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Abstinent from alcohol; never drinking alcohol.
Corpus desk
Index EN-teetotal · teetotal · English
teetotal · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "T" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | teetotal |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˌtiːˈtəʊtəl/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “teetotal” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
teetotal is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˌtiːˈtəʊtəl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for teetotal in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From total, the reduplicated tee acts as an intensifier, hence T-total. First use appears in 1834. The correct English form is teetotal, spelled T-E-E-T-O-T-A-L.
Definition
- 1Abstinent from alcohol; never drinking alcohol.
- 2Opposed to the drinking of alcohol.
- 3Total.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how teetotal appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
There is absolutely a teetotal society here in the heart of the mountains, and some quarrelsome drunkards have become reformed!
That's a teetotal lie.
Etymology
From total, the reduplicated tee acts as an intensifier, hence T-total. First use appears in 1834.
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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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.