ballpoint pen
"ballpoint-pen" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ballpoint pen” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A pen, similar in size and shape to a pencil, having an internal chamber filled with a viscous, quick-drying ink that is dispensed at the tip during use by the rolling action of a metal sphere (aro...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ballpoint pen |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ballpoint pen” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
ballpoint pen is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A pen, similar in size and shape to a pencil, having an internal chamber filled with a viscous, quick-drying ink that is dispensed at the tip during use by the rolling action of a metal sphere (aro...".
No generated misspelling entries exist for ballpoint pen in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From ballpoint + pen. Compare Dutch balpen (“ballpoint pen”). The correct English form is ballpoint pen, spelled B-A-L-L-P-O-I-N-T- -P-E-N.
Definition
- 1A pen, similar in size and shape to a pencil, having an internal chamber filled with a viscous, quick-drying ink that is dispensed at the tip during use by the rolling action of a metal sphere (around 0.7 mm to 1 mm in diameter).
Etymology
From ballpoint + pen. Compare Dutch balpen (“ballpoint pen”).
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “ballpoint pen”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-A-L-L-P-O-I-N-T- -P-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- 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.