toupee
/tuːˈpeɪ/
"toupee" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“toupee” is an uncommon English word, ranked #73,729 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #73,729
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A wig of false hair worn to cover a bald spot, especially as worn by a man.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | toupee |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /tuːˈpeɪ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #73,729 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “toupee” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for toupee is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /tuːˈpeɪ/. Corpus data places it at rank #73,729 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No misspelling variants are generated for toupee in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: 1727, from French toupet (“small tuft of hair, forelock”), from Middle French toupet (“small tuft of hair, forelock”), from Old French toupet (“small tuft of hair, forelock”), diminutive of toupe, top (“tuft of hair”), from Frankish *topp (“summit, crest, t… The correct English form is toupee, spelled T-O-U-P-E-E.
Definition
- 1A wig of false hair worn to cover a bald spot, especially as worn by a man.
- 2A small tuft; a curl or artificial lock of hair.
- 3A small wig, or a toppiece of a wig, worn by both sexes.
Etymology
1727, from French toupet (“small tuft of hair, forelock”), from Middle French toupet (“small tuft of hair, forelock”), from Old French toupet (“small tuft of hair, forelock”), diminutive of toupe, top (“tuft of hair”), from Frankish *topp (“summit, crest, tuft of hair”), from Proto-Germanic *tuppaz (“summit, crest, tuft of hair”). Cognate with Old Dutch topp (“top”) (Dutch top), Old Frisian top (“summit, crest, tuft of hair”), Old English top (“summit, crest, tuft of hair”), Old High German zopf (“end, summit, tuft of hair”), Old Norse toppr (“tuft of hair, forelock”). More at top.
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); 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
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Using “toupee”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-O-U-P-E-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /tuːˈpeɪ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.