basketball

/ˈbɑːs.kɪt.bɔːl/

//ˈbɑːs.kɪt.bɔːl// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"basketball" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“basketball” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,657. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,657
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A sport in which two opposing teams of five players strive to put a ball through a hoop.

Corpus desk

Index EN-basketball · basketball · English

basketball · rank #2,657 · 14 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,657
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH assets

Nearest frequency peer: assets (-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 “basketball”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “basketball” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

basketball vs baseball
80% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for basketball
PropertyValue
Headwordbasketball
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbɑːs.kɪt.bɔːl/
Letters10
Frequency rank#2,657
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “basketball”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).basketballlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “assets” (#2,656), “button” (#2,658), “anybody” (#2,655). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “basketball” is #2,657. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around basketball (IPA /ˈbɑːs.kɪt.bɔːl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,657 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for basketball, with forms such as "absketball", "baksetball", and "basektball". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "baseball", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From basket + ball. The correct English form is basketball, spelled B-A-S-K-E-T-B-A-L-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    A sport in which two opposing teams of five players strive to put a ball through a hoop.
  2. 2
    The particular kind of ball used in the sport of basketball.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how basketball appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. to play basketball
  2. He pursued basketball as his career.

Etymology

From basket + ball.

This word in other languages

baloncesto(Español)basket-ball(Français)Basketball(Deutsch)basquetebol(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • absketball
  • baksetball
  • basektball
  • baskebtall
  • basketabll
  • basketbal
  • basketbball
  • basketblal
  • baskettball
  • baskketball
  • baskteball
  • bassketball
  • bbasketball
  • bsaketball

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of basketball - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

absketball2baksetball2basektball2baskebtall2basketabll2basketbal1basketbball1basketblal2
Edit distance from "basketball"

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

How do you spell "basketball"?
"basketball" is spelled B-A-S-K-E-T-B-A-L-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbɑːs.kɪt.bɔːl/.
What does "basketball" mean?
As a noun, "basketball" means: A sport in which two opposing teams of five players strive to put a ball through a hoop.
What words are commonly confused with "basketball"?
"basketball" is commonly confused with "baseball". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "basketball"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "basketball" is /ˈbɑːs.kɪt.bɔːl/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "basketball"?
From basket + ball. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "basketball", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

ultimately#2,651depression#2,670employment#2,674personally#2,638

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

depending14 variantspermanent14 variantsrepresent14 variantsexistence14 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list