tuft
/tʌft/noun, verb
tuft is spelled T-U-F-T: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,368th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, tuft means “A bunch of feathers, grass or hair, etc., held together at the base” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of tuft is tufts.
How many letters and syllables are in tuft?
| Letters | 4: T-U-F-T |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 49,368th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is tuft?
Tuft appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 49,368th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce tuft?
- US /tʌft/
- Australia /tɐft/
Tuft has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-tuft.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with tuft?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as tuft from its last stressed vowel (/ʌft/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of tuft
- tufts plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- tufting participle, present
- tufted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tuft mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A bunch of feathers, grass or hair, etc., held together at the base.
- 2
A cluster of threads drawn tightly through upholstery, a mattress or a quilt, etc., to secure and strengthen the padding.
- 3
A small clump of trees or bushes.
- 4
A gold tassel on the cap worn by titled undergraduates at English universities.
- 5
A person entitled to wear such a tassel.
verb
- 1
To provide or decorate with a tuft or tufts.
- 2
To form into tufts.
- 3
To secure and strengthen (a mattress, quilt, etc.) with tufts. This hinders the stuffing from moving.
- 4
To be formed into tufts.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tuft in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense bunch:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | touffe |
| German | Büschel, Tuff |
| Portuguese | tufo |
| Spanish | mechón, penacho, manojo, haz, champa |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does tuft come from?
From Middle English tuft, toft, tofte, an alteration of earlier *tuffe (> Modern English tuff), from Old French touffe, tuffe, toffe, tofe (“tuft”) (modern French touffe), from Late Latin tūfa (“helmet crest”) (near Vegezio). Compare Old English þūf (“tuft”), Old Norse þúfa (“mound”), Swedish tuva (“tussock; grassy hillock”), Swedish tova (“tangled knot”), Swedish tofs (“tuft, tassel”), from Proto-Germanic *þūbǭ (“tube”), *þūbaz; akin to Latin tūber (“hump, swelling”), Ancient Greek τῡ́φη (tū́phē, “cattail (used to stuff beds)”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).