tuft

/tʌft/

//tʌft// noun

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

"tuft" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“tuft” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #49,682. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#49,682
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A bunch of feathers, grass or hair, etc., held together at the base.

Corpus desk

Index EN-tuft · tuft · English

tuft · rank #49,682 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #49,682
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH tubal

Nearest frequency peer: tubal (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “tuft”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “tuft” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

tuft vs tug
50% similar
tuft vs tum
50% similar
tuft vs tun
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for tuft
PropertyValue
Headwordtuft
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/tʌft/
Letters4
Frequency rank#49,682
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “tuft”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).tuftlands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “tubal” (#49,681), “turpentine” (#49,683), “tryst” (#49,680). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “tuft” is #49,682. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around tuft (IPA /tʌft/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #49,682 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for tuft, with forms such as "tfut", "ttuft", and "tufft". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "tug", "tum", "tun", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: 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 tufa (“helmet crest”) (near Vegezio). Compare Old English þūf (“tuft”… The correct English form is tuft, spelled T-U-F-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A bunch of feathers, grass or hair, etc., held together at the base.
  2. 2
    A cluster of threads drawn tightly through upholstery, a mattress or a quilt, etc., to secure and strengthen the padding.
  3. 3
    A small clump of trees or bushes.
  4. 4
    A gold tassel on the cap worn by titled undergraduates at English universities.
  5. 5
    A person entitled to wear such a tassel.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. “Not far from this place, there is a tuft of about a dozen of tall beeches […].”
  2. A college tutor, or a nobleman’s toady, who appears one fine day as my right reverend lord, in a silk apron and a shovel-hat, and assumes benedictory airs over me, is still the same man we remember at Oxbridge, when he was truckling to the tufts, and bullying the poor undergraduates in the lecture-room.

Etymology

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 tufa (“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)”).

This word in other languages

mechón(Español)touffe(Français)Büschel(Deutsch)tufo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • tfut
  • ttuft
  • tufft
  • tuftt
  • tutf
  • utft

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of tuft - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

tfut2ttuft1tufft1tuftt1tutf2utft2
Edit distance from "tuft"

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 "tuft"?
"tuft" is spelled T-U-F-T. The IPA pronunciation is /tʌft/.
What does "tuft" mean?
As a noun, "tuft" means: A bunch of feathers, grass or hair, etc., held together at the base.
What words are commonly confused with "tuft"?
"tuft" is commonly confused with "tug", "tum", "tun". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "tuft"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "tuft" is /tʌft/. 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 "tuft"?
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 tufa (“helmet crest”) (near Vegezio). Compare Old English þ... 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 "tuft", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Trav#49,676sura#49,659suds#49,655wawa#49,718

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

waifu6 variantsWilley6 variantssegue6 variantsroque6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list