bladder
/ˈblædə/
"bladder" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bladder” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #12,551 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #12,551
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 12
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A flexible sac that can expand and contract and that holds liquids or gases.
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 | bladder |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈblædə/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #12,551 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 12 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bladder” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for bladder is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈblædə/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,551 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for bladder, with forms such as "baldder", "bbladder", and "bladderr". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "blade", "blades", "blazer", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English bladdre, bleddre, bladder, bledder, from Old English blæddre, a variant of blǣdre, blēdre (“blister, bladder”), from Proto-West Germanic *blādrā, from Proto-Germanic *blēdrǭ, *bladrǭ (“blister, bladder”). The correct English form is bladder, spelled B-L-A-D-D-E-R.
Definition
- 1A flexible sac that can expand and contract and that holds liquids or gases.
- 2Specifically, the urinary bladder.
- 3A hollow, inflatable organ of a plant.
- 4The inflatable bag inside various balls used in sports, such as footballs and rugby balls.
- 5A container in the form of a flexible bag.
- 6A container in the form of a flexible bag.
- 7Anything inflated, empty, or unsound.
Etymology
From Middle English bladdre, bleddre, bladder, bledder, from Old English blæddre, a variant of blǣdre, blēdre (“blister, bladder”), from Proto-West Germanic *blādrā, from Proto-Germanic *blēdrǭ, *bladrǭ (“blister, bladder”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: baldder,bbladder,bladderr,bladdre,bladedr,blader,bldader,blladder,lbadder
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bladder - 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
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Using “bladder”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-L-A-D-D-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈblædə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “blade” - see the side-by-side comparison. bladder vs blade
- 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.