blab
/blæb/
"blab" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“blab” is uncommon English (frequency #67,264 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #67,264
- frequency rank, English
- 4,121
- “B” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To tell tales; to gossip without reserve or discretion.
Corpus desk
Index EN-blab · blab · English
blab · rank #67,264 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #67,264
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,121
- PHOTO-FINISH bisected
Nearest frequency peer: bisected (-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.
Long-tail ranks near “blab”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Birkbeck
Birkbeck
32,740 corpus weight
- bisected
bisected
32,738 corpus weight
- blab
blab
32,737 corpus weight
- blakey
blakey
32,736 corpus weight
- Bleecker
Bleecker
32,735 corpus weight
- blowfish
blowfish
32,733 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “blab” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | blab |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /blæb/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #67,264 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “blab” in English
Rare enough to double-check
blab is uncommon English at frequency #67,264 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /blæb/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for blab 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, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English blabben (“to talk foolishly”), perhaps from Middle English blabbe (“idle talk; talebearer”). Compare Middle English blaberen (“to blabber, babble”), Middle High German blabezen (“to stammer, babble”). The correct English form is blab, spelled B-L-A-B.
Definition
- 1To tell tales; to gossip without reserve or discretion.
- 2to speak carelessly or excessively
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how blab appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
And yonder a vile physician blabbing / The case of his patient.
1998, "Helga Blabs It All", TV episode in season 3 of Hey Arnold!, animated television series created by Craig Bartlett Helga Blabs It All.
Etymology
From Middle English blabben (“to talk foolishly”), perhaps from Middle English blabbe (“idle talk; talebearer”). Compare Middle English blaberen (“to blabber, babble”), Middle High German blabezen (“to stammer, babble”).
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 "blab", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).