tennis

/ˈtɛnɪs/

//ˈtɛnɪs// noun

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

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

The verdict

“tennis” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,986. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,986
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
9
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A sport played by two players (or four in doubles), who alternately strike the ball over a net using racquets.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tennis · tennis · English

tennis · rank #3,986 · 7 variants · 9 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,986
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 9 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH tear

Nearest frequency peer: tear (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “tennis”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “tennis” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

tennis vs tens
67% similar
tennis vs tents
67% similar
tennis vs Tunis
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for tennis
PropertyValue
Headwordtennis
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈtɛnɪs/
Letters6
Frequency rank#3,986
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs9
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “tennis”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).tennislands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “tear” (#3,985), “terrorist” (#3,987), “stretch” (#3,984). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “tennis” is #3,986. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around tennis (IPA /ˈtɛnɪs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,986 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for tennis, with forms such as "etnnis", "tenins", and "tenis". 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 9 confusable-pair relationships, "tens", "tents", "Tunis", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English tennys, teneys, tenis, from Old French tenez (second-person plural imperative of tenir (“to hold”)). The correct English form is tennis, spelled T-E-N-N-I-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    A sport played by two players (or four in doubles), who alternately strike the ball over a net using racquets.
  2. 2
    A match in this sport.
  3. 3
    An earlier game in which a ball is driven to and fro, or kept in motion by striking it with a racquet or with the open hand.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. “Anthea hasn't a notion in her head but to vamp a lot of silly mugwumps. She's set her heart on that tennis bloke[…]whom the papers are making such a fuss about.”
  2. We go about to parties in the daytime as usual, teas and tennises[…]

Etymology

From Middle English tennys, teneys, tenis, from Old French tenez (second-person plural imperative of tenir (“to hold”)).

This word in other languages

tenis(Español)tennis(Français)Tennis(Deutsch)tênis(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • etnnis
  • tenins
  • tenis
  • tenniss
  • tennsi
  • tnenis
  • ttennis

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tennis - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

etnnis2tenins2tenis1tenniss1tennsi2tnenis2ttennis1
Edit distance from "tennis"

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 "tennis"?
"tennis" is spelled T-E-N-N-I-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈtɛnɪs/.
What does "tennis" mean?
As a noun, "tennis" means: A sport played by two players (or four in doubles), who alternately strike the ball over a net using racquets.
What words are commonly confused with "tennis"?
"tennis" is commonly confused with "tens", "tents", "Tunis". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "tennis"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tennis" is /ˈtɛnɪs/. 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 "tennis"?
From Middle English tennys, teneys, tenis, from Old French tenez (second-person plural imperative of tenir (“to hold”)). 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 "tennis", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

twelve#3,990virgin#3,992voices#3,993wishes#3,994

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

risks7 variantsbears7 variantsblues7 variantsboxes7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list