wantok
/ˈwɒntɒk/
"wantok" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“wantok” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A close comrade; a person with whom one has a strong social bond, usually based on a shared language.
Corpus desk
Index EN-wantok · wantok · English
wantok · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "W" 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 | wantok |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈwɒntɒk/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “wantok” in English
Rare enough to double-check
wantok is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈwɒntɒk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A close comrade; a person with whom one has a strong social bond, usually based on a shared language.".
wantok has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Tok Pisin wantok, from English one talk, that is, a speaker of the same language. The correct English form is wantok, spelled W-A-N-T-O-K.
Definition
- 1A close comrade; a person with whom one has a strong social bond, usually based on a shared language.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how wantok appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I refer to the classes of settlers thus distinguished as ‘wantok’ (although their members did not always have the same mother tongue), and the areas from which they came as ‘home areas’. […] There were 7 groups of wantok among the Situm block-holders and 4 among the Gobari holders.
In Saraga, there are more wantoks (3.16) per household than in Bumbu (2.7). […] Like Bumbu, almost 80 percent approves of their wantoks living with them but half of the respondents would not like to see an increase in the wantoks in their houses.
Etymology
Borrowed from Tok Pisin wantok, from English one talk, that is, a speaker of the same language.
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.