appall
/əˈpɔːl/
"appall" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“appall” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To fill with horror or indignation; to dismay.
Corpus desk
Index EN-appall · appall · English
appall · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 6 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | appall |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /əˈpɔːl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “appall” in English
Rare enough to double-check
appall is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /əˈpɔːl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for appall, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English apallen, from Old French apalir (“to grow pale, make pale”); a (Latin ad) + palir (“to grow pale, to make pale”), pâle (“pale”), from pallere. See pale (adj.) and compare with pall. The correct English form is appall, spelled A-P-P-A-L-L.
Definition
- 1To fill with horror or indignation; to dismay.
- 2To make pale; to blanch.
- 3To weaken; to reduce in strength
- 4To grow faint; to become weak; to become dismayed or discouraged.
- 5To lose flavor or to become stale.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how appall appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The evidence put forth at the court appalled most of the jury.
The house of peers was somewhat appalled at this alarum.
Etymology
From Middle English apallen, from Old French apalir (“to grow pale, make pale”); a (Latin ad) + palir (“to grow pale, to make pale”), pâle (“pale”), from pallere. See pale (adj.) and compare with pall.
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.