twenty-one

/ˌtwɛntiˈwʌn/

//ˌtwɛntiˈwʌn// num

"twenty-one" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“twenty-one” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a numeral. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The cardinal number occurring after twenty and before twenty-two, represented in Roman numerals as XXI and in Arabic numerals as 21.

Corpus desk

Index EN-twenty-one · twenty-one · English

twenty-one · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "T" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for twenty-one
PropertyValue
Headwordtwenty-one
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNumeral
IPA/ˌtwɛntiˈwʌn/
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “twenty-one” in English

twenty-onefalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

twenty-one is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anumeral, transcribed /ˌtwɛntiˈwʌn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The cardinal number occurring after twenty and before twenty-two, represented in Roman numerals as XXI and in Arabic numerals as 21.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for twenty-one, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is twenty-one, spelled T-W-E-N-T-Y---O-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The cardinal number occurring after twenty and before twenty-two, represented in Roman numerals as XXI and in Arabic numerals as 21.

Synonyms

eleventeenone and twenty21XXI

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "twenty-one"?
"twenty-one" is spelled T-W-E-N-T-Y---O-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌtwɛntiˈwʌn/.
What does "twenty-one" mean?
As a numeral, "twenty-one" means: The cardinal number occurring after twenty and before twenty-two, represented in Roman numerals as XXI and in Arabic numerals as 21.
How do you pronounce "twenty-one"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "twenty-one" is /ˌtwɛntiˈwʌn/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "twenty-one" come from?
"twenty-one" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list