# bald

> English word · Adjective · IPA /bɔːld/ · frequency rank #9,137

## Definitions
1. Having little or no hair, fur, or feathers.
2. Having little or no hair on the head, or having a large area of bare scalp on top of the head.
3. Of animals, having areas (of fur or plumage) that are colored white, especially on the head.
4. Denuded of any covering.
5. Of tyres: whose surface is worn away.
6. Of a statement or account, unembellished.
7. Of a statement, without evidence or support being provided.

## Etymology
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 has Old English bǣl (“fire, flame; funeral pyre”) (from Proto-Germanic *bēlą), Albanian balë (“white spot on the forehead”) and ballë (“forehead”).

## Easily confused with
- **bd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bald-vs-bd)
- **BL** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bald-vs-bl)
- **bed** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bald-vs-bed)
- **bar** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bald-vs-bar)
- **bay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bald-vs-bay)
- **ban** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bald-vs-ban)
- **BID** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bald-vs-bid)
- **bat** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bald-vs-bat)
- **bud** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bald-vs-bud)
- **bam** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bald-vs-bam)
- **bel** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bald-vs-bel)
- **BLM** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bald-vs-blm)
- **Bas** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bald-vs-bas)
- **bao** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bald-vs-bao)
- **bpd** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bald-vs-bpd)
- **bbl** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bald-vs-bbl)
- **bod** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bald-vs-bod)
- **bla** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bald-vs-bla)
- **bol** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bald-vs-bol)
- **baz** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/bald-vs-baz)

## Common misspellings (6)
`abld`, `badl`, `baldd`, `balld`, `bbald`, `blad`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/bald