ballistic
/bəˈlɪs.tɪk/
"ballistic" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ballistic” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,343 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #15,343
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of or relating to ballistics.
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 | ballistic |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /bəˈlɪs.tɪk/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #15,343 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ballistic” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for ballistic is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bəˈlɪs.tɪk/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,343 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for ballistic, with forms such as "abllistic", "balilstic", and "balistic". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "ballistics", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin ballista (“a military siege engine for throwing stones”) + -ic. The correct English form is ballistic, spelled B-A-L-L-I-S-T-I-C.
Definition
- 1Of or relating to ballistics.
- 2Of or relating to projectiles moving under their own momentum, aerodynamic drag, gravity, and sometimes rocket power, without significant lift.
- 3Very angry.
Etymology
From Latin ballista (“a military siege engine for throwing stones”) + -ic.
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: abllistic,balilstic,balistic,ballisitc,ballisstic,ballistci,ballisticc,ballisttic,ballitsic,ballsitic,bballistic,blalistic
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ballistic - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 “ballistic”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-A-L-L-I-S-T-I-C - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /bəˈlɪs.tɪk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “ballistics” - see the side-by-side comparison. ballistic vs ballistics
- 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.