Ballast

[ˈbalast]

/[ˈbalast]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Ballast” has 9 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #25,455. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#25,455
frequency rank, German
5,818
“B” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Stoff oder Bauteil, das für seine Größe vergleichsweise schwer ist und zur Stabilisierung des Objektes, auf welchem es geladen ist (zum Beispiel auf Schiffen, Ballonen, U-Booten und anderen Tauchfa...

Corpus desk

Index DE-ballast · Ballast · German

Ballast · rank #25,455 · 9 variants · 7 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #25,455
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,818
  • PHOTO-FINISH Bahnlinie

Nearest frequency peer: Bahnlinie (-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.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „Ballast“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „Ballast“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im Edit-Distance-Chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

Ballast vs bläst
43% similar
Ballast vs balls
57% similar
Ballast vs ballet
57% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for Ballast
PropertyValue
HeadwordBallast
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈbalast]
Letters7
Frequency rank#25,455
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „Ballast“

Die Häufigkeit läuft von den wenigen Alltagswörtern (links) bis zur langen, seltenen Schwanzseite (rechts).Ballastliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „Bahnlinie“ (#25,454), „barocken“ (#25,456), „austoben“ (#25,453). Unter 5,818 „B“-Lemmata liegt „Ballast“ bei #25,455. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around Ballast (IPA [ˈbalast]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #25,455 among 5,818 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for Ballast, with forms such as "abllast", "balalst", and "balast". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "bläst", "balls", "ballet", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is Ballast, spelled B-A-L-L-A-S-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    Stoff oder Bauteil, das für seine Größe vergleichsweise schwer ist und zur Stabilisierung des Objektes, auf welchem es geladen ist (zum Beispiel auf Schiffen, Ballonen, U-Booten und anderen Tauchfahrzeugen) dient
  2. 2
    überflüssige Ladung, nicht benötigtes Gepäck
  3. 3
    Belastung, Last, Bürde

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. „Acht Säcke Ballast sind vorhanden, Meßapparate, hundert Meter Tau“
  2. „Das Boot war mit starkem Ballast versehen.“

Synonyms

BelastungLastBürde

This word in other languages

ballast(English)lastre(Español)lest(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • abllast
  • balalst
  • balast
  • ballasst
  • ballastt
  • ballats
  • ballsat
  • bballast
  • blalast

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Ballast - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

abllast2balalst2balast1ballasst1ballastt1ballats2ballsat2bballast1
Edit distance from "Ballast"

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 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "Ballast"?
"Ballast" is spelled B-A-L-L-A-S-T. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈbalast].
What does "Ballast" mean?
As a noun, "Ballast" means: Stoff oder Bauteil, das für seine Größe vergleichsweise schwer ist und zur Stabilisierung des Objektes, auf welchem es geladen ist (zum Beispiel auf Schiffen, Ballonen, U-Booten und anderen Tauchfa...
What words are commonly confused with "Ballast"?
"Ballast" is commonly confused with "bläst", "balls", "ballet". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Ballast"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Ballast" is [ˈbalast]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Ballast" come from?
"Ballast" is a German 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 German words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

beeilen#25,460Albaner#25,434Burgund#25,487coaches#25,497

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

blödes9 variantsEckert9 variantsEmblem9 variantsenzyme9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list