Spielball

[ˈʃpiːlˌbal]

/[ˈʃpiːlˌbal]/ noun

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

The verdict

“Spielball” has 12 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #33,309. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#33,309
frequency rank, German
8,027
“S” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - ein Ball, der zum Spielen bestimmt oder geeignet ist

Corpus desk

Index DE-spielball · Spielball · German

Spielball · rank #33,309 · 12 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #33,309
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 8,027
  • PHOTO-FINISH spezifisches

Nearest frequency peer: spezifisches (-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 „Spielball“

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

corpus weight

What this shows „Spielball“ 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).

Spielball vs spielbar
67% similar
Spielball vs Spielhalle
80% similar

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

Key facts for Spielball
PropertyValue
HeadwordSpielball
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ˈʃpiːlˌbal]
Letters9
Frequency rank#33,309
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „Spielball“

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

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

Die Ticks laufen logarithmisch; jeder ist rund zehnmal seltener. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „spezifisches“ (#33,308), „Spieldauer“ (#33,310), „Spielzeiten“ (#33,311). Unter 8,027 „S“-Lemmata liegt „Spielball“ bei #33,309. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around Spielball (IPA [ˈʃpiːlˌbal]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #33,309 among 8,027 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for Spielball, with forms such as "psielball", "sipelball", and "speilball". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "spielbar", "Spielhalle", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct German form is Spielball, spelled S-P-I-E-L-B-A-L-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    ein Ball, der zum Spielen bestimmt oder geeignet ist
  2. 2
    Ballwechsel, der einen Spielabschnitt innerhalb eines Matches beenden kann
  3. 3
    etwas oder jemand, der Objekt des Interesses, des Spiels der Kräfte verschiedener Personen oder Personengruppen ist, dabei aber passiv, inaktiv bleibt oder bleiben muss

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Viele bunte Spielbälle standen zur Auswahl.
  2. „Sie hoffen auf Arbeit, auf ein Leben ohne permanente Existenzangst - und werden in Europa zum Spielball der Politik: Etwa 23.000 Tunesier sind nach Italien geflohen.“

This word in other languages

plaything(English)pelota(Español)ballon(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • psielball
  • sipelball
  • speilball
  • spieblall
  • spielabll
  • spielbal
  • spielbball
  • spielblal
  • spiellball
  • spileball
  • sppielball
  • sspielball

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Spielball - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

psielball2sipelball2speilball2spieblall2spielabll2spielbal1spielbball1spielblal2
Edit distance from "Spielball"

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 "Spielball"?
"Spielball" is spelled S-P-I-E-L-B-A-L-L. The IPA pronunciation is [ˈʃpiːlˌbal].
What does "Spielball" mean?
As a noun, "Spielball" means: ein Ball, der zum Spielen bestimmt oder geeignet ist
What words are commonly confused with "Spielball"?
"Spielball" is commonly confused with "spielbar", "Spielhalle". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "Spielball"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "Spielball" is [ˈʃpiːlˌbal]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "Spielball" come from?
"Spielball" 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 "Spielball", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

spontaner#33,312startklar#33,317Senatorin#33,290Seehofers#33,286

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

selektiv12 variantsTaktiken12 variantsschlauen12 variantsRoadster12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list