Uncle Tom
"uncle-tom" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Uncle Tom” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A black man who is servile towards white authority and accepting of white supremacy, a black race traitor.
Corpus desk
Index EN-uncle-tom · Uncle Tom · English
Uncle Tom · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "U" 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Uncle Tom |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “Uncle Tom” in English
Rare enough to double-check
Uncle Tom is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A black man who is servile towards white authority and accepting of white supremacy, a black race traitor.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for Uncle Tom, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: Referring to the character in the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. The correct English form is Uncle Tom, spelled U-N-C-L-E- -T-O-M.
Definition
- 1A black man who is servile towards white authority and accepting of white supremacy, a black race traitor.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how Uncle Tom appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
...their master... was no ad for anybody but the most arcane Black Power, he was an old prince of a witch doctor—insult him at your peril—but the other ten musicians with their trumpets and snares and assorted brass would prove no pull for Nixon on TV with any Black votes watching, for they were old and meek, naught but elderly Black Southern musicians, a…
Some blacks don't want to deal with the black cop because they see him as an Uncle Tom, a person who stands by while the white cop abuses and shows disrespect toward other blacks.
Etymology
Referring to the character in the novel Uncle Tom's Cabin.
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.