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blunt

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

5 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "blunt", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "blunt" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "blunt" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

blunt is anEnglishadj. It means: Having a thick edge or point; not sharp. Pronounced /blʌnt/. It ranks #8,245 in English word frequency. Often confused with but and bun.

Key facts for blunt
PropertyValue
Headwordblunt
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdj
IPA/blʌnt/
Letters5
Frequency rank#8,245
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of blunt in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for blunt is 5 letters long, classified as anadj, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /blʌnt/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,245 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 8 documented wrong-spelling variants for blunt, with forms such as "bblunt", "bllunt", and "blnut". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "but", "bun", "butt", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English blunt, blont, from Old English *blunt, probably of North Germanic origin, possibly related to Old Norse blunda (“to doze”) (> Icelandic blunda, Swedish blunda, Danish blunde). Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is blunt, spelled B-L-U-N-T, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    Having a thick edge or point; not sharp.
  2. 2
    Dull in understanding; slow of discernment; opposed to acute.
  3. 3
    Abrupt in address; plain; unceremonious; wanting in the forms of civility; rough in manners or speech.
  4. 4
    Hard to impress or penetrate.
  5. 5
    Slow or deficient in feeling: insensitive.

Etymology

From Middle English blunt, blont, from Old English *blunt, probably of North Germanic origin, possibly related to Old Norse blunda (“to doze”) (> Icelandic blunda, Swedish blunda, Danish blunde).

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: bblunt,bllunt,blnut,blunnt,bluntt,blutn,bulnt,lbunt

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for blunt

Misspelling Variants of "blunt"

bblunt6bllunt6blnut5blunnt6bluntt6blutn5bulnt5lbunt5
Misspelling Variants of "blunt"

Frequency rank: #8,245 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "blunt"?
"blunt" is spelled B-L-U-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is /blʌnt/.
What does "blunt" mean?
As an adj, "blunt" means: Having a thick edge or point; not sharp.
What words are commonly confused with "blunt"?
"blunt" is commonly confused with "but", "bun", "butt". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "blunt"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "blunt" is /blʌnt/. 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 "blunt"?
From Middle English blunt, blont, from Old English *blunt, probably of North Germanic origin, possibly related to Old Norse blunda (“to doze”) (> Icelandic blunda, Swedish blunda, Danish blunde). 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter B in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.