bonce
/bɒns/
"bonce" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bonce” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A large marble of grey stone used in various games, such as bonce about, bonce-eye, and French bonce.
Corpus desk
Index EN-bonce · bonce · English
bonce · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "B" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bonce |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /bɒns/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “bonce” in English
Rare enough to double-check
bonce is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /bɒns/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
bonce doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Related to bonzer. The correct English form is bonce, spelled B-O-N-C-E.
Definition
- 1A large marble of grey stone used in various games, such as bonce about, bonce-eye, and French bonce.
- 2A marble game played with bonces.
- 3The human head.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how bonce appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Bonces, or very large stone marbles, made chiefly in Holland.
BONCE ABOUT is played with a big kind of marbles, called "bonces." The game does not require much skill. The first player puts down his bonce, and the second aims at it from a given distance. If he hits the bonce of the first player with his own, he wins a marble; if not, the first player aims at the bonce of the second, from the place where his own rests…
Etymology
Related to bonzer.
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.