twenty-three
/ˈtwɛntiˈθɹiː/
"twenty-three" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“twenty-three” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a numeral. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The cardinal number immediately following twenty-two and preceding twenty-four; 23.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | twenty-three |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Numeral |
| IPA | /ˈtwɛntiˈθɹiː/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “twenty-three” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
twenty-three is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anumeral, transcribed /ˈtwɛntiˈθɹiː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The cardinal number immediately following twenty-two and preceding twenty-four; 23.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for twenty-three, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English twenty-thre, twenti-thre, twenti-thrie, twenty-thrie, ultimately derived from Old English þrēo and twēntiġ (“twenty-three”, literally “three and twenty”); see also three-and-twenty. The reason for the numerical swap across the spellings … The correct English form is twenty-three, spelled T-W-E-N-T-Y---T-H-R-E-E.
Definition
- 1The cardinal number immediately following twenty-two and preceding twenty-four; 23.
Etymology
From Middle English twenty-thre, twenti-thre, twenti-thrie, twenty-thrie, ultimately derived from Old English þrēo and twēntiġ (“twenty-three”, literally “three and twenty”); see also three-and-twenty. The reason for the numerical swap across the spellings for all English numbers is unknown, but it may have been influenced by the Old French system, i.e. see vint trois (literally “twenty three”). By surface analysis, twenty (“the cardinal number 20, occurring after nineteen and before twenty-one”) + three (“the cardinal number 3, occurring after two and before four”).
Synonyms
Antonyms
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
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Using “twenty-three”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-W-E-N-T-Y---T-H-R-E-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈtwɛntiˈθɹiː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.