# tinsel

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈtɪns(ə)l/ · frequency rank #44,531

## Definitions
1. A shining fabric used for ornamental purposes.
2. A shining fabric used for ornamental purposes.
3. A thin, shiny foil for ornamental purposes which is of a material made of metal or resembling metal; especially, narrow glittering strips of such a material, often strung on to thread, and traditionally at Christmastime draped on Christmas trees, hung from balustrades or ceilings, or wrapped around objects as a decoration.
4. Anything shining and gaudy; especially something superficially shiny and showy, or having a false lustre, and more pretty than valuable.

## Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English tinsel (“cloth containing gold or silver thread”) [and other forms], probably from Anglo-Norman tincel, tincelle, tencele, and then:
* from Old French estincelle, estencele (“a spark”) (modern French étincelle), from Vulgar Latin *stincilla, a metathesis of Latin scintilla (“a glimmer; a spark”), probably from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₁y- (“to shimmer, shine”); and
* from Old French estincelé, the past participle of estinceler, estenceler (“to produce sparks”) (modern French étinceler (“to sparkle, twinkle; (archaic) to produce sparks”)), from Vulgar Latin *stincillāre, a metathesis of Latin scintillāre, the present active infinitive of scintillō (“to scintillate, sparkle”), from scintilla (“a glimmer; a spark”) (see above) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs).
The English word is a doublet of scintilla, scintillate, and stencil.
The adjective is from an attributive use of the noun; while the verb is derived from the noun.

## Easily confused with
- **tunnel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tinsel-vs-tunnel)
- **tinted** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tinsel-vs-tinted)
- **tine** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tine-vs-tinsel)
- **tense** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tense-vs-tinsel)
- **tinge** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tinge-vs-tinsel)
- **tinder** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tinder-vs-tinsel)
- **tinker** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tinker-vs-tinsel)
- **tinged** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tinged-vs-tinsel)
- **tassel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tassel-vs-tinsel)
- **tinned** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tinned-vs-tinsel)
- **tenses** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/tenses-vs-tinsel)

## Common misspellings (9)
`itnsel`, `tinesl`, `tinnsel`, `tinsell`, `tinsle`, `tinssel`, `tisnel`, `tnisel`, `ttinsel`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/tinsel