treachery
/ˈtɹɛt͡ʃəɹi/
"treachery" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“treachery” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #24,618 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #24,618
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 14
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Deliberate, often calculated, disregard for trust or faith.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | treachery |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈtɹɛt͡ʃəɹi/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #24,618 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “treachery” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for treachery is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈtɹɛt͡ʃəɹi/. Corpus data places it at rank #24,618 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for treachery, with forms such as "rteachery", "terachery", and "traechery". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "teacher", "teachers", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English trecherie, from Old French tricherie, trecherie, from tricher, trichier (“to cheat”). The correct English form is treachery, spelled T-R-E-A-C-H-E-R-Y.
Definition
- 1Deliberate, often calculated, disregard for trust or faith.
- 2The act of violating the confidence of another, usually for personal gain.
- 3Treason.
- 4An act or instance of treachery.
Etymology
From Middle English trecherie, from Old French tricherie, trecherie, from tricher, trichier (“to cheat”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: rteachery,terachery,traechery,treacchery,treacehry,treacherry,treacheryy,treacheyr,treachhery,treachrey,treahcery,trecahery,trreachery,ttreachery
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of treachery - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
How do you spell "treachery"?
What does "treachery" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "treachery"?
How do you pronounce "treachery"?
What is the origin of the word "treachery"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “treachery”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-R-E-A-C-H-E-R-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈtɹɛt͡ʃəɹi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “teacher” - see the side-by-side comparison. treachery vs teacher
- 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.