Skip to main content
PlainSpell

ballpark

/ˈbɔl(ˌ)pɑɹk/noun, adjective, verb

ballpark is spelled B-A-L-L-P-A-R-K: 8 letters and 2 syllables. It appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,589th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). People search “ball-park vs ballpark” about 10 times a month (Bing, United States). As a noun, ballpark means “A field, stadium or park where ball, especially baseball, is played” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of ballpark is ballparks.

How many letters and syllables are in ballpark?

Letters8: B-A-L-L-P-A-R-K
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing2.0 times per million words; the 19,589th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search
Pairs people search

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).

How common is ballpark?

Ballpark appears 2.0 times per million words in written English, the 19,589th 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 ballpark?

  • US /ˈbɔl(ˌ)pɑɹk/

Ballpark has 2 syllables (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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Flame,_not_lame-ballpark.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Words people confuse with ballpark

Word pairs people search, with the monthly searches for “a vs b” (G: Google, B: Bing, United States).

ball-park vs ballpark10 B

Also written: ball-park (one word or two).

Sources: Google and Bing searches (September 2025 to August 2026, through DataForSEO); English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).

Forms of ballpark

  • ballparks plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • ballparking participle, present
  • ballparked participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does ballpark mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

noun

  1. 1

    USA field, stadium or park where ball, especially baseball, is played.

  2. 2

    USThe general vicinity; somewhere close; a broad approximation.

    Let’s get in the ballpark, then worry about the fine details.

adjective

  1. 1

    Approximate; close; on the right order of magnitude.

verb

  1. 1

    informalTo make a rough estimate of.

    If you don’t have the exact expense total, just ballpark it.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Ballpark in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
GermanStadion, Platz (field), Gegend, Größenordnung (general vicinity), ungefähr, grob (approximate)
Spanishcancha (field), vecindad, región (general vicinity), aproximado, orientativo (approximate), estimar (make an estimate)

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 ballpark come from?

From ball + park. Sense 2 related to ballpark figure.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after ballpark