bonehead

/ˈbəʊnˌhɛd/

//ˈbəʊnˌhɛd// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"bonehead" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bonehead” is uncommon English (frequency #68,052 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#68,052
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Someone who is thick-skulled, stupid, or stubborn.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bonehead · bonehead · English

bonehead · rank #68,052 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #68,052
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bonar

Nearest frequency peer: bonar (-1 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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “bonehead”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “bonehead” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for bonehead
PropertyValue
Headwordbonehead
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbəʊnˌhɛd/
Letters8
Frequency rank#68,052
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “bonehead” sits in English frequency

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).boneheadlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “bonar” (#68,051), “blotch” (#68,050), “Blakeney” (#68,049). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

bonehead is uncommon English at frequency #68,052 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈbəʊnˌhɛd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for bonehead, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From bone + head. The correct English form is bonehead, spelled B-O-N-E-H-E-A-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Someone who is thick-skulled, stupid, or stubborn.
  2. 2
    A member of a neo-Nazi, white supremacist, and antisemitic offshoot of the skinhead subculture.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how bonehead appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Near-synonyms: thickhead, numskull; see also Thesaurus:fool, Thesaurus:idiot
  2. Musical Potterism, for example, is everywhere rampant. It bobs up in music criticisms and peeps forth in daily intercourse. "Give me good old Mozart," cries the classical Potterite, "and keep your modern kickshaws. Mozart is good enough for me!" Alas, we think Mozart is too good for this bonehead, who no doubt prefers a Broadway comic opera to The Marriag…

Etymology

From bone + head.

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 "bonehead"?
"bonehead" is spelled B-O-N-E-H-E-A-D. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbəʊnˌhɛd/.
What does "bonehead" mean?
As a noun, "bonehead" means: Someone who is thick-skulled, stupid, or stubborn.
How do you pronounce "bonehead"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bonehead" is /ˈbəʊnˌhɛd/. 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 "bonehead"?
From bone + head. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bonehead", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Blakeney#68,049autoplay#68,021antitank#68,012antihero#68,011

What to do next

You've looked up "bonehead". Here's where to go from here.

  • Usage frequency rank #68,052 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "B" letter cohort. B–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list