abuzz

/əˈbʌz/

//əˈbʌz// adj

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

"abuzz" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“abuzz” is uncommon English (frequency #66,437 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#66,437
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Characterized by a high level of activity or gossip; in a buzz (“feeling or rush of energy or excitement”), buzzing.

Corpus desk

Index EN-abuzz · abuzz · English

abuzz · rank #66,437 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #66,437
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH accompanist

Nearest frequency peer: accompanist (+1 rank slots)

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.

Long-tail ranks near “abuzz”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “abuzz” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for abuzz
PropertyValue
Headwordabuzz
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/əˈbʌz/
Letters5
Frequency rank#66,437
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “abuzz” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).abuzzfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “accompanist” (#66,438), “aboveground” (#66,435), “Abbottabad” (#66,434). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “abuzz” is #66,437. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

abuzz is uncommon English at frequency #66,437 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /əˈbʌz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Characterized by a high level of activity or gossip; in a buzz (“feeling or rush of energy or excitement”), buzzing.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for abuzz, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From a- (prefix indicating a condition or manner) + buzz (“feeling or rush of energy or excitement; major topic of conversation; widespread rumor; information spread behind the scenes”) or buzz (“to show a high level of activity and haste; to communicate in… The correct English form is abuzz, spelled A-B-U-Z-Z.

Definition

  1. 1
    Characterized by a high level of activity or gossip; in a buzz (“feeling or rush of energy or excitement”), buzzing.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The court was all astir and a-buzz, when the black sheep—whom many fell away from in dread—pressed him into an obscure corner among the crowd.
  2. There's too many women in the house for me: I hate the sound of women's voices; they're always either a-buzz or a-squeak, always either a-buzz or a-squeak.

Etymology

From a- (prefix indicating a condition or manner) + buzz (“feeling or rush of energy or excitement; major topic of conversation; widespread rumor; information spread behind the scenes”) or buzz (“to show a high level of activity and haste; to communicate in an undertone; to spread, as a report, by whispers or secretly; to talk to incessantly or confidentially in a low humming voice”).

This word in other languages

schwirren(Deutsch)

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

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "abuzz"?
"abuzz" is spelled A-B-U-Z-Z. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈbʌz/.
What does "abuzz" mean?
As an adjective, "abuzz" means: Characterized by a high level of activity or gossip; in a buzz (“feeling or rush of energy or excitement”), buzzing.
How do you pronounce "abuzz"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "abuzz" is /əˈbʌz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "abuzz"?
From a- (prefix indicating a condition or manner) + buzz (“feeling or rush of energy or excitement; major topic of conversation; widespread rumor; information spread behind the scenes”) or buzz (“to show a high level of activity and haste; to comm... See the full etymology section above for more details.
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 English words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Abadi#66,431Aller#66,452amble#66,460Werth#66,399

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list