tête-à-tête
/ˌtɛt.əˈtɛt/
"tete-a-tete" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tête-à-tête” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A face-to-face meeting, or private conversation between two people, usually in an intimate setting; a head-to-head.
Corpus desk
Index EN-tete-a-tete · tête-à-tête · English
tête-à-tête · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-5 5 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 | tête-à-tête |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌtɛt.əˈtɛt/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “tête-à-tête” in English
Rare enough to double-check
tête-à-tête is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌtɛt.əˈtɛt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
tête-à-tête doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Unadapted borrowing from French tête-à-tête (“head-to-head”). The correct English form is tête-à-tête, spelled T-Ê-T-E---À---T-Ê-T-E.
Definition
- 1A face-to-face meeting, or private conversation between two people, usually in an intimate setting; a head-to-head.
- 2A bench or sofa that allows two people to talk face-to-face, especially one that is S-shaped.
- 3A variety of early flowering, fragrant daffodil.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how tête-à-tête appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
From the tête-à-tête with Mr. Thomas Tough, ſhe goes to her deſk again, and begins to write "With what appetite ſhe may," in the forlorn hope of procuring from her bookſeller part of the money ſhe has been compelled to promiſe to the ſaid Thomas's peremptory demands, on behalf of Mr. Humphrey Hotgooſe—[…]
Despite their explorations of what the Vatican termed "the family", it was uncertain whether the pope and the president concerned themselves with such issues during their behind-closed-doors tête à tête.
Etymology
Unadapted borrowing from French tête-à-tête (“head-to-head”).
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.