urbane

/ɜːˈbeɪn/

//ɜːˈbeɪn// adj

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

"urbane" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“urbane” is uncommon English (frequency #55,840 among 1,433 “U” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#55,840
frequency rank, English
1,433
“U” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of a person (usually a man): having refined manners; courteous, polite, suave.

Corpus desk

Index EN-urbane · urbane · English

urbane · rank #55,840 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #55,840
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,433
  • PHOTO-FINISH untraceable

Nearest frequency peer: untraceable (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “urbane”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “urbane” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for urbane
PropertyValue
Headwordurbane
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ɜːˈbeɪn/
Letters6
Frequency rank#55,840
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “urbane” in English

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “untraceable” (#55,839), “Uther” (#55,841), “unionize” (#55,838). Among 1,433 “U” headwords, “urbane” is #55,840. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

urbane is uncommon English at frequency #55,840 among 1,433 “U” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ɜːˈbeɪn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for urbane in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: A variant of urban + -ane (a variant of -an (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives)). Urban is borrowed from Middle French urbain (“belonging to a city, urban; courteous, refined, urbane”) (modern French urbain), or from its etymon Latin u… The correct English form is urbane, spelled U-R-B-A-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of a person (usually a man): having refined manners; courteous, polite, suave.
  2. 2
    Of an act, expression, etc.: suited to a person of refined manners; elegant, sophisticated.
  3. 3
    Obsolete spelling of urban (“of, pertaining to, or characteristic of a city or town, or life in such a place; living in a city or town; having authority or jurisdiction over a city or town”).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. We took advantage of our acquaintance with the urbane Frenchman to join his party; the conversation turned almost entirely on literary subjects.
  2. Newman, at this juncture, fell to admiring the duchess for her fine manners. He felt, most accurately, that she was not a grain less urbane than she would have been if his marriage were still in prospect; but he felt also that she was not a particle more urbane.

Etymology

A variant of urban + -ane (a variant of -an (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives)). Urban is borrowed from Middle French urbain (“belonging to a city, urban; courteous, refined, urbane”) (modern French urbain), or from its etymon Latin urbānus (“of or belonging to a city, urban; of manners or style: like those of city dwellers: cultivated, polished, refined, sophisticated”), from urbs (“city; walled town; Rome”) (further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *gʰerdʰ- (“to encircle, enclose; a belt; an enclosure, fence”) or *werbʰ- (“to enclose”)) + -ānus (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives).

This word in other languages

urbano(Español)urbain(Français)

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 "urbane"?
"urbane" is spelled U-R-B-A-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ɜːˈbeɪn/.
What does "urbane" mean?
As an adjective, "urbane" means: Of a person (usually a man): having refined manners; courteous, polite, suave.
How do you pronounce "urbane"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "urbane" is /ɜːˈbeɪn/. 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 "urbane"?
A variant of urban + -ane (a variant of -an (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives)). Urban is borrowed from Middle French urbain (“belonging to a city, urban; courteous, refined, urbane”) (modern French urbain), or from its etym... 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 "urbane", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Turley#55,832welter#55,856touché#55,815Yehuda#55,871

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list