ACAB

/eɪ siː eɪ ˈbiː/

//eɪ siː eɪ ˈbiː// phrase

"acab" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“ACAB” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a phrase. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
4
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Acronym of all cops (or coppers) are bastards, a political slogan protesting against police behavior.

Corpus desk

Index EN-acab · ACAB · English

ACAB · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 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.

Key facts for ACAB
PropertyValue
HeadwordACAB
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechPhrase
IPA/eɪ siː eɪ ˈbiː/
Letters4
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “ACAB” in English

ACABranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ACAB is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as aphrase, transcribed /eɪ siː eɪ ˈbiː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Acronym of all cops (or coppers) are bastards, a political slogan protesting against police behavior.".

ACAB doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is ACAB, spelled A-C-A-B.

Definition

  1. 1
    Acronym of all cops (or coppers) are bastards, a political slogan protesting against police behavior.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Another fairly common tattoo consists of a dot on four knuckles of one hand, with or without the letters ‘ACAB’. These letters stand for ALL COPPERS ARE BASTARDS.]
  2. Having a tattoo or a bomberjack with the text '1312' or 'ACAB' (All Cops Are Bastards).

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

How do you spell "ACAB"?
"ACAB" is spelled A-C-A-B. The IPA pronunciation is /eɪ siː eɪ ˈbiː/.
What does "ACAB" mean?
As a phrase, "ACAB" means: Acronym of all cops (or coppers) are bastards, a political slogan protesting against police behavior.
How do you pronounce "ACAB"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ACAB" is /eɪ siː eɪ ˈbiː/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "ACAB" come from?
"ACAB" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list