barb
/bɑː(ɹ)b/
"barb" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“barb” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #19,268. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #19,268
- frequency rank, English
- 4,121
- “B” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc., to prevent it from being easily extracted. Hence: Anything which stands out with a sharp point obliquely or crosswise to something else.
Corpus desk
Index EN-barb · barb · English
barb · rank #19,268 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #19,268
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,121
- PHOTO-FINISH Aubrey
Nearest frequency peer: Aubrey (-1 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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “barb”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- ascending
ascending
80,736 corpus weight
- attributable
attributable
80,735 corpus weight
- Aubrey
Aubrey
80,734 corpus weight
- barb
barb
80,733 corpus weight
- bastion
bastion
80,732 corpus weight
- Beaumont
Beaumont
80,731 corpus weight
What this shows “barb” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | barb |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /bɑː(ɹ)b/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #19,268 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “barb”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around barb (IPA /bɑː(ɹ)b/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #19,268 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 11 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for barb, with forms such as "abrb", "babr", and "barbb". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "br", "BB", "bay", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *bʰardʰéh₂ From Middle English barbe, from Middle French barbe, from Old French barbe (“beard, beard-like element”). Doublet of beard. The correct English form is barb, spelled B-A-R-B.
Definition
- 1The point that stands backward in an arrow, fishhook, etc., to prevent it from being easily extracted. Hence: Anything which stands out with a sharp point obliquely or crosswise to something else.
- 2A hurtful or disparaging remark.
- 3A beard, or that which resembles it, or grows in the place of it.
- 4One of the many side branches of a feather, which collectively constitute the vane.
- 5Any of various species of freshwater carp-like fish that have barbels and belong to the cyprinid family.
- 6The sciaenid fish Menticirrhus americanus, found along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts of the United States.
- 7A hair or bristle ending in a double hook.
- 8A muffler, worn by nuns and mourners.
- 9Paps, or little projections, of the mucous membrane, which mark the opening of the submaxillary glands under the tongue in horses and cattle. The name is mostly applied when the barbs are inflamed and swollen.
- 10A bit for a horse.
- 11A plastic fastener, shaped roughly like a capital I (with serifs), used to attach socks etc. to their packaging.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how barb appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Having two barbs or points.
to trade barbs
Etymology
PIE word *bʰardʰéh₂ From Middle English barbe, from Middle French barbe, from Old French barbe (“beard, beard-like element”). Doublet of beard.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- abrb
- babr
- barbb
- barrb
- bbarb
- brab
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of barb - 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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "barb", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).