ballpoint
"ballpoint" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ballpoint” is uncommon English (frequency #50,956 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #50,956
- frequency rank, English
- 4,121
- “B” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Ellipsis of ballpoint pen; the nib thereof, containing the ball.
Corpus desk
Index EN-ballpoint · ballpoint · English
ballpoint · rank #50,956 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #50,956
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,121
- PHOTO-FINISH Bailly
Nearest frequency peer: Bailly (-2 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Long-tail ranks near “ballpoint”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Babylonia
Babylonia
49,049 corpus weight
- baggies
baggies
49,048 corpus weight
- Bailly
Bailly
49,047 corpus weight
- ballpoint
ballpoint
49,045 corpus weight
- bassoon
bassoon
49,042 corpus weight
- batchelor
batchelor
49,041 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “ballpoint” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ballpoint |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #50,956 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “ballpoint” in English
Rare enough to double-check
ballpoint is uncommon English at frequency #50,956 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for ballpoint, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From ball + point. The correct English form is ballpoint, spelled B-A-L-L-P-O-I-N-T.
Definition
- 1Ellipsis of ballpoint pen; the nib thereof, containing the ball.
- 2A kind of needle with a rounded tip.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how ballpoint appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Have you seen my ballpoint? I need to sign this form, and a felt-tip won't make carbons.
Etymology
From ball + point.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ballpoint", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).