blackout
/ˈblæk.aʊt/
"blackout" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“blackout” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #13,287 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #13,287
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A temporary loss of consciousness.
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 | blackout |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈblæk.aʊt/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #13,287 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “blackout” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for blackout is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈblæk.aʊt/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,287 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for blackout, with forms such as "balckout", "bblackout", and "blacckout". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "blackouts", "blackest", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Deverbal from black out. The correct English form is blackout, spelled B-L-A-C-K-O-U-T.
Definition
- 1A temporary loss of consciousness.
- 2A temporary loss of memory.
- 3A large-scale power failure, and resulting loss of electricity to consumers.
- 4An instance of censorship, especially a temporary one.
- 5An intentional outage of a website or other online service, typically as a form of protest.
- 6The mandatory blocking of all light emanating from buildings, as well as outdoor and street lighting as a measure against aerial bombing or naval attack, as imposed during, e.g., World War II.
- 7The blocking out of as much light as possible.
- 8A mass murder committed, usually in an urban area, to eliminate potential witnesses of a previous crime.
Etymology
Deverbal from black out.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: balckout,bblackout,blacckout,blackkout,blackotu,blackoutt,blackuot,blacokut,blakcout,blcakout,bllackout,lbackout
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of blackout - 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.
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 "blackout"?
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Using “blackout”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-L-A-C-K-O-U-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈblæk.aʊt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “blackouts” - see the side-by-side comparison. blackout vs blackouts
- 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.