black eye
/ˌblæk ˈaɪ/
"black-eye" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“black eye” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A periorbital hematoma; a visible bruise surrounding a person's eye; an assault causing such a bruise; the eye involved.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | black eye |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌblæk ˈaɪ/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “black eye” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
black eye is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌblæk ˈaɪ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for black eye, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is black eye, spelled B-L-A-C-K- -E-Y-E.
Definition
- 1A periorbital hematoma; a visible bruise surrounding a person's eye; an assault causing such a bruise; the eye involved.
- 2A defeat.
- 3Damage to a reputation.
- 4An eye having a dark iris, regarded as a point of beauty.
- 5Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see black, eye.
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 “black eye”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-L-A-C-K- -E-Y-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌblæk ˈaɪ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.