thank you

Name: thank you, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˈθæŋk ˌju/

//ˈθæŋk ˌju// intj

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“thank you” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an interjection. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English: 9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An expression of gratitude or politeness in response to something done or given.

Corpus desk

Index EN-thank-you · thank you · English

thank you · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
LEN-LONG 9 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.

Key facts for thank you
Property	Value
Headword	thank you
Language	English
Part of speech	Interjection
IPA	/ˈθæŋk ˌju/
Letters	9
Misspellings tracked	0
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “thank you” sits in English frequency

thank you falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

thank you is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aninterjection, transcribed /ˈθæŋk ˌju/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for thank you, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English thanke yow; as with thank God, praise be to God, and praise the Lord, it was originally a present subjunctive form but is usually not parsed that way in current usage. It has also sometimes been parsed as a prodrop form of (present indic… The correct English form is thank you, spelled T-H-A-N-K- -Y-O-U.

Definition

1
An expression of gratitude or politeness in response to something done or given.
2
Used as a polite affirmative to accept an offer.
3
A polite dismissal; usually used in professional contexts.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

“Thank you!” said the girl after her mom gave her a gift.
“And thank you for being so sweet,” replied her mom.

Etymology

From Middle English thanke yow; as with thank God, praise be to God, and praise the Lord, it was originally a present subjunctive form but is usually not parsed that way in current usage. It has also sometimes been parsed as a prodrop form of (present indicative) I thank you, a mechanism that may plausibly coexist with the other one (instances being variable).

Synonyms

cheersmuch appreciatedgracias gramercymuch obligedta thank you very much thanks thanks a bunchthanks a lotthanks a millionthanks very muchty you're welcomea typical replybeauty churh/that tipmany thanksshoutout merci mercy buckets mercy bucket sankyuspank youspank you very much shot shotties shucks tanks thank youthank you so muchthank you kindlythank'ee thankeethanks a heapthanks a tonthanks heapsthankshtodah rabah ta eversota muchlyobliged10q10xkthxthnkthxtnxtyvm tia TIATQtxs

This word in other languages

gracias(Español)merci(Français)danke(Deutsch)obrigado(Português)

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 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "thank you"?

"thank you" is spelled T-H-A-N-K- -Y-O-U. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈθæŋk ˌju/.

What does "thank you" mean?

As an interjection, "thank you" means: An expression of gratitude or politeness in response to something done or given.

How do you pronounce "thank you"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "thank you" is /ˈθæŋk ˌju/. 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 "thank you"?

From Middle English thanke yow; as with thank God, praise be to God, and praise the Lord, it was originally a present subjunctive form but is usually not parsed that way in current usage. It has also sometimes been parsed as a prodrop form of (pre... See the full etymology section above for more details.

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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.

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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.