babble
/ˈbæb.(ə)l/
"babble" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“babble” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #38,295 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #38,295
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 13
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | babble |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈbæb.(ə)l/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #38,295 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 13 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “babble” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for babble is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbæb.(ə)l/. Corpus data places it at rank #38,295 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for babble, with forms such as "abbble", "babblle", and "bablbe". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 13 confusable-pair relationships, "babe", "bale", "bible", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English babelen, from Old English *bæblian, also wæflian (“to talk foolishly”), from Proto-West Germanic *bablōn, *wablōn, variants of *babalōn, from Proto-Germanic *babalōną (“to chatter”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰa-bʰa-, perhaps a reduplic… The correct English form is babble, spelled B-A-B-B-L-E.
Definition
- 1To utter words indistinctly or unintelligibly; to utter inarticulate sounds
- 2To talk incoherently; to utter meaningless words.
- 3To talk too much; to chatter; to prattle.
- 4To make a continuous murmuring noise, like shallow water running over stones.
- 5To utter in an indistinct or incoherent way; to repeat words or sounds in a childish way without understanding.
- 6To reveal; to give away (a secret).
Etymology
From Middle English babelen, from Old English *bæblian, also wæflian (“to talk foolishly”), from Proto-West Germanic *bablōn, *wablōn, variants of *babalōn, from Proto-Germanic *babalōną (“to chatter”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰa-bʰa-, perhaps a reduplication of Proto-Indo-European *bʰeh₂- (“to say”), or a variant of Proto-Indo-European *baba- (“to talk vaguely, mumble”), or a merger of the two, possibly ultimately onomatopoeic/mimicry of infantile sounds (compare babe, baby). Cognate with Saterland Frisian babbelje (“to babble”), West Frisian babbelje (“to babble”), Dutch babbelen (“to babble, chat”), German Low German babbeln (“to babble”), German babbeln (“to babble”), Danish bable, bavle (“to babble”), Swedish babbla (“to babble”), Icelandic babla (“to babble”). Unrelated to Babel.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: abbble,babblle,bablbe,bbabble,bbable
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of babble - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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
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Using “babble”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-A-B-B-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbæb.(ə)l/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “babe” - see the side-by-side comparison. babble vs babe
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.