ASVAB

name

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

The verdict

“ASVAB” is uncommon English (frequency #85,004 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#85,004
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Initialism of Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery.

Corpus desk

Index EN-asvab · ASVAB · English

ASVAB · rank #85,004 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #85,004
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH aspic

Nearest frequency peer: aspic (-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 “ASVAB”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for ASVAB
PropertyValue
HeadwordASVAB
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechProper noun
Letters5
Frequency rank#85,004
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “ASVAB” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).ASVABfalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “aspic” (#85,003), “Asoka” (#85,001), “ascites” (#85,000). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “ASVAB” is #85,004. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ASVAB is uncommon English at frequency #85,004 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as aproper noun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Initialism of Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery.".

ASVAB doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct English form is ASVAB, spelled A-S-V-A-B.

Definition

  1. 1
    Initialism of Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. We all know at least one Marine who scored 99 on the ASVAB, and we know this because he will typically proclaim it loudly, and often. Usually to try to set himself apart from the horde of ASVAB waivers and Crayon eaters in the Corps — the orange ones taste the best. All joking aside, there’s a lot of smart Marines out there, or at least, smartass Marines.

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 "ASVAB"?
"ASVAB" is spelled A-S-V-A-B.
What does "ASVAB" mean?
As a proper noun, "ASVAB" means: Initialism of Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery.
What language does "ASVAB" come from?
"ASVAB" is a English 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 English words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list