tongue-in-cheek
"tongue-in-cheek" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tongue-in-cheek” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 15
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Not intended seriously; jocular or humorous.
Corpus desk
Index EN-tongue-in-cheek · tongue-in-cheek · English
tongue-in-cheek · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 15 letters
- VOW-6 6 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 | tongue-in-cheek |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 15 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “tongue-in-cheek” in English
Rare enough to double-check
tongue-in-cheek is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Not intended seriously; jocular or humorous.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for tongue-in-cheek, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: This phrase alludes to the facial expression created by putting one's tongue in one's cheek. The term first appeared in print in 1828, but it isn't entirely clear that it was used with the modern, rather than a literal, sense. A later citation from Richard … The correct English form is tongue-in-cheek, spelled T-O-N-G-U-E---I-N---C-H-E-E-K.
Definition
- 1Not intended seriously; jocular or humorous.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how tongue-in-cheek appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
He gave a tongue-in-cheek explanation of why the sky was blue, offering a theory about some primordial discount on light blue paint.
It was in this era, too, that author and Scotland the Brave songwriter Cliff Hanley penned The Glasgow Underground, a tongue-in-cheek love letter to the Subway in song.
Etymology
This phrase alludes to the facial expression created by putting one's tongue in one's cheek. The term first appeared in print in 1828, but it isn't entirely clear that it was used with the modern, rather than a literal, sense. A later citation from Richard Barham is unambiguous.
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.