kabuki

\ka.by.ki\

/\ka.by.ki\/ noun

The verdict

“kabuki” is uncommon French (frequency #66,851 among 737 “K” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#66,851
frequency rank, French
737
“K” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Forme épique du théâtre japonais traditionnel.

Corpus desk

Index FR-kabuki · kabuki · French

kabuki · rank #66,851 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #66,851
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 737
  • PHOTO-FINISH Kabir

Nearest frequency peer: Kabir (-1 rank slots)

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.

Rangs de longue queue près de « kabuki »

Bande clairsemée: les barres inversent le rang pour que le rare se lise plus court

corpus weight

What this shows Vue de longue queue: où « kabuki » se situe face à des rangs français aussi rares.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for kabuki
PropertyValue
Headwordkabuki
LanguageFrench
Part of speechNoun
IPA\ka.by.ki\
Letters6
Frequency rank#66,851
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Longue queue: rang de « kabuki » en français

De gauche à droite: le peu qui porte la parole quotidienne, puis la longue queue quasi invisible.kabukitombe dans cette queue de rareté:

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

Les tics avancent en logarithme; chacun est de l'ordre de dix fois plus rare. Voisins rares de la même bande: « Kabir » (#66,850), « Karabakh » (#66,853), « juridictionnel » (#66,848). Parmi 737 lemmes en « K », « kabuki » est au #66,851. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

kabuki is uncommon French at frequency #66,851 among 737 “K” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed \ka.by.ki\. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Forme épique du théâtre japonais traditionnel.".

No misspelling variants are generated for kabuki in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular French conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct French form is kabuki, spelled K-A-B-U-K-I.

Definition

  1. 1
    Forme épique du théâtre japonais traditionnel.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. C'est à cette époque, vers 1603, qu'Izumo no Okuni, danseuse émérite et courtisane fameuse, […] va se produire publiquement en dansant le Nembutsu Odori […]. Elle va donner naissance ainsi au kabuki, une école artistique proposant une sorte de version populaire du théâtre nô.
  2. … Cet apprentissage précoce est surtout caractéristique des deux branches de notre tradition théâtrale : le nô et le kabuki. Les pièces nô, qui se sont développées au XIVe siècle, sont issues de danses de cour rituelles exécutées en offrande aux dieux. … Le kabuki, né deux siècles plus tard pour distraire le peuple, est plus animé et peut se comparer à l’…

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); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 French corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "kabuki"?
"kabuki" is spelled K-A-B-U-K-I. The IPA pronunciation is \ka.by.ki\.
What does "kabuki" mean?
As a noun, "kabuki" means: Forme épique du théâtre japonais traditionnel.
How do you pronounce "kabuki"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "kabuki" is \ka.by.ki\. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "kabuki" come from?
"kabuki" is a French word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 French words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "kabuki", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list