bald
/bɔːld/adjective, noun, verb
bald is spelled B-A-L-D: 4 letters and one syllable. It appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “bald vs bold” about 110 times a month (Google, United States). As an adjective, bald means “Having little or no hair, fur, or feathers” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in bald?
| Letters | 4: B-A-L-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 1 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 6.8 times per million words; the 9,165th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Pairs people search | |
| Rhymes with | |
| Same letters |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is bald?
Bald appears 6.8 times per million words in written English, the 9,165th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce bald?
- UK /bɔːld/
- British /boːld/
- UK /bəʊld/
Bald has one syllable (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-bald.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with bald
Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).
Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
What rhymes with bald?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as bald from its last stressed vowel (/ɔld/, British pronunciation):
Spelled with the same letters in another order: blad.
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of bald
- balder comparative
- baldest superlative
- balds plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- balding participle, present
- balded participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does bald mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having little or no hair, fur, or feathers.
My uncle is bald.
- 2
Having little or no hair on the head, or having a large area of bare scalp on top of the head.
a bald man with a moustache
- 3
Of animals, having areas (of fur or plumage) that are colored white, especially on the head.
- 4
Of hair, nonexistent.
- 5
Lacking any covering.
The bald cypress is a tree that loses its leaves in winter.
- 6
Of a tyre, whose surface is worn away.
- 7
Of a statement or account, unembellished.
- 8
Of a statement, without evidence or support being provided.
noun
- 1
A mountain summit or crest that lacks forest growth despite a warm climate conducive to such, as is found in many places in the Southern Appalachian Mountains.
- 2
A bald person.
verb
- 1
To become bald.
- 2
To make bald.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate bald?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of bald: BAL.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Bald in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | chauve , lisse |
| German | kahl, glatzköpfig |
| Portuguese | calvo, careca |
| Spanish | calvo, pelón, pelado, pajla, calvorota |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does bald come from?
From Middle English balled, ballid, bald (“bald”), of uncertain origin. Probably formed from Middle English bal, balle (“ball, round object, knoll, head”). Compare Old Danish bældet (“bald”). An alternate etymology relates it to Old English bǣl (“fire, flame; funeral pyre”), from Proto-Germanic *bēlą.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).