bonk

/bɒŋk/

//bɒŋk// verb

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

"bonk" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bonk” is uncommon English (frequency #57,253 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#57,253
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To hit or strike; to collide with something.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bonk · bonk · English

bonk · rank #57,253 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #57,253
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bobsled

Nearest frequency peer: bobsled (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “bonk”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “bonk” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for bonk
PropertyValue
Headwordbonk
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/bɒŋk/
Letters4
Frequency rank#57,253
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “bonk” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).bonkfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “bobsled” (#57,252), “bluesy” (#57,251), “Botticelli” (#57,255). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bonk” is #57,253. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

bonk is uncommon English at frequency #57,253 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /bɒŋk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for bonk, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: Of imitative origin. Compare English bang, bounce, bump. The correct English form is bonk, spelled B-O-N-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    To hit or strike; to collide with something.
  2. 2
    To have sexual intercourse (with).
  3. 3
    To hit something with the front of the board, especially in midair.
  4. 4
    To experience sudden and severe fatigue in an endurance sports event due to glycogen depletion.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Please let it be the cow. No such luck, The 'cow' picked up my big brass telescope and bonked me on the head with it.
  2. Sophie (Katrin Cartlidge) What is a proper relationship? Louise (Lesley Sharp): Living with someone who talks to you after they've bonked ya.

Etymology

Of imitative origin. Compare English bang, bounce, bump.

This word in other languages

agotarse(Español)heurter(Français)bumsen(Deutsch)transar(Português)

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 "bonk"?
"bonk" is spelled B-O-N-K. The IPA pronunciation is /bɒŋk/.
What does "bonk" mean?
As a verb, "bonk" means: To hit or strike; to collide with something.
How do you pronounce "bonk"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bonk" is /bɒŋk/. 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 "bonk"?
Of imitative origin. Compare English bang, bounce, bump. 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 "bonk", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

brae#57,258Bunn#57,265burl#57,268bagh#57,228

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list