bombast
/ˈbɒmbæst/
"bombast" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bombast” is uncommon English (frequency #68,887 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #68,887
- frequency rank, English
- 4,121
- “B” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Cotton, or cotton wool.
Corpus desk
Index EN-bombast · bombast · English
bombast · rank #68,887 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #68,887
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,121
- PHOTO-FINISH boggle
Nearest frequency peer: boggle (-2 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 “bombast”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- blowed
blowed
31,120 corpus weight
- boggle
boggle
31,116 corpus weight
- bombast
bombast
31,114 corpus weight
- bravura
bravura
31,112 corpus weight
- bridgeman
bridgeman
31,111 corpus weight
- buckskin
buckskin
31,107 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “bombast” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bombast |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbɒmbæst/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #68,887 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “bombast” in English
Rare enough to double-check
bombast is uncommon English at frequency #68,887 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈbɒmbæst/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for bombast in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Old French bombace (“cotton, cotton wadding”), from Late Latin bombax (“cotton”), a variant of bombyx (“silkworm”), from Ancient Greek βόμβυξ (bómbux, “silkworm”), possibly related to Middle Persian pmbk' (“cotton”), from a Proto-Indo-European root mea… The correct English form is bombast, spelled B-O-M-B-A-S-T.
Definition
- 1Cotton, or cotton wool.
- 2Cotton, or any soft, fibrous material, used as stuffing for garments; stuffing, padding.
- 3High-sounding words; language above the dignity of the occasion; a pompous or ostentatious manner of writing or speaking.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how bombast appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
SURBATING; a Diſtemper in a Horſe, who is ſaid to be ſurbated, when the Sole is worn, bruiſed or ſpoiled by travelling without Shoes, or with ill ſhoeing: [...] take Frankincenſe, and rolling it in a little fine Cotton Wool or Bombaſt, with a hot Iron melt it into the Foot betwixt the Shoe and the Toe, until the Orifice, where the Blood was taken away, is…
This strange wool-bearing plant is of the mallow tribe. [...] Another name formerly given to the vegetable fleece was bombast. This word was in use before our ancestors were skilful enough to weave the cotton wool which was brought to them from the East in the merchant ships of Venice and Genoa. What they did not want for candle-wicks, they employed in st…
Etymology
From Old French bombace (“cotton, cotton wadding”), from Late Latin bombax (“cotton”), a variant of bombyx (“silkworm”), from Ancient Greek βόμβυξ (bómbux, “silkworm”), possibly related to Middle Persian pmbk' (“cotton”), from a Proto-Indo-European root meaning “to twist, wind”.
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 "bombast", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).