tsundere

/ˈ(t)sun.dəɹ.eɪ/

//ˈ(t)sun.dəɹ.eɪ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"tsundere" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tsundere” is uncommon English (frequency #80,062 among 3,151 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#80,062
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A fictional character who fits the archetype of being cold or even hostile towards another person before gradually showing a warm and caring side.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tsundere · tsundere · English

tsundere · rank #80,062 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #80,062
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH tsun

Nearest frequency peer: tsun (-1 rank slots)

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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “tsundere”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “tsundere” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for tsundere
PropertyValue
Headwordtsundere
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈ(t)sun.dəɹ.eɪ/
Letters8
Frequency rank#80,062
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “tsundere” sits in English frequency

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).tsunderelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “tsun” (#80,061), “tule” (#80,063), “Tsao” (#80,060). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

tsundere is uncommon English at frequency #80,062 among 3,151 “T” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈ(t)sun.dəɹ.eɪ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A fictional character who fits the archetype of being cold or even hostile towards another person before gradually showing a warm and caring side.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for tsundere in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Japanese ツンデレ (tsundere), from つんつん (tsun-tsun, “in a cross, aloof, or standoffish manner”, adverb) + でれでれ (dere-dere, “in a lovey-dovey, infatuated, or lovestruck manner”, adverb). The correct English form is tsundere, spelled T-S-U-N-D-E-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A fictional character who fits the archetype of being cold or even hostile towards another person before gradually showing a warm and caring side.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. I usually draw very peaceful, happy manga, so it has been a real challenge for me to illustrate the vice president's death glare and Ri-chan's subtle tsundere attitude.
  2. Even Kaname's rude and overbearing tsundere personality is explained by her having gone to school in the United States where she was socialized to just bluntly say what she thought.

Etymology

Borrowed from Japanese ツンデレ (tsundere), from つんつん (tsun-tsun, “in a cross, aloof, or standoffish manner”, adverb) + でれでれ (dere-dere, “in a lovey-dovey, infatuated, or lovestruck manner”, adverb).

This word in other languages

tsundere(Français)

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 "tsundere"?
"tsundere" is spelled T-S-U-N-D-E-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈ(t)sun.dəɹ.eɪ/.
What does "tsundere" mean?
As a noun, "tsundere" means: A fictional character who fits the archetype of being cold or even hostile towards another person before gradually showing a warm and caring side.
How do you pronounce "tsundere"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tsundere" is /ˈ(t)sun.dəɹ.eɪ/. 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 "tsundere"?
Borrowed from Japanese ツンデレ (tsundere), from つんつん (tsun-tsun, “in a cross, aloof, or standoffish manner”, adverb) + でれでれ (dere-dere, “in a lovey-dovey, infatuated, or lovestruck manner”, adverb). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "tsundere", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

unbutton#80,080unfrozen#80,083unipolar#80,085sundries#80,018

What to do next

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  • Usage frequency rank #80,062 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
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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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list