above-board
/əˈbʌvˌbɔɹd/
"above-board" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“above-board” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - In open sight; without trick, concealment, or deception.
Corpus desk
Index EN-above-board · above-board · English
above-board · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "A" 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 | above-board |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /əˈbʌvˌbɔɹd/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “above-board” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
above-board is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /əˈbʌvˌbɔɹd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "In open sight; without trick, concealment, or deception.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for above-board, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From above + board (“table”). First attested in 1610. Said by Johnson to have been borrowed from gamblers, who, when they change their cards, put their hands under the table. The correct English form is above-board, spelled A-B-O-V-E---B-O-A-R-D.
Definition
- 1In open sight; without trick, concealment, or deception.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how above-board appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
fair and aboveboard
Nothing illegal about any of this to my knowledge. Indeed, this is the very above-board racket of running an independent political committee. Everyone does it. Left, right, center and none of the above. And anyway, why shouldn't a true pay-triot get paid?
Etymology
From above + board (“table”). First attested in 1610. Said by Johnson to have been borrowed from gamblers, who, when they change their cards, put their hands under the table.
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.