boor

/bʊə/

//bʊə// noun

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

The verdict

“boor” is uncommon English (frequency #82,120 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#82,120
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A peasant.

Corpus desk

Index EN-boor · boor · English

boor · rank #82,120 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #82,120
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH boule

Nearest frequency peer: boule (+4 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 “boor”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for boor
PropertyValue
Headwordboor
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/bʊə/
Letters4
Frequency rank#82,120
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “boor” 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).boorfalls 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: “boule” (#82,124), “bluefish” (#82,115), “boxcars” (#82,125). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “boor” is #82,120. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

boor is uncommon English at frequency #82,120 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /bʊə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

boor has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Dutch boer (“peasant”). Doublet of bauer, Boer, and bower (“peasant, farmer”). For the meaning development compare with Russian обыва́тель (obyvátelʹ, “the average man/citizen, the man in the street, philistine, resident, inhabitant”), Polish … The correct English form is boor, spelled B-O-O-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A peasant.
  2. 2
    A Boer, white South African of Dutch or Huguenot descent.
  3. 3
    A yokel, country bumpkin.
  4. 4
    An uncultured person; a vulgarian.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Not swear it, now I am a gentleman? Let boors and franklins say it, I’ll swear it.
  2. For all the rich array and goodly port and countenance of Corinius, he seemed but a very boor beside the Lord Brandoch Daha, and dearly did each hate the other.

Etymology

Borrowed from Dutch boer (“peasant”). Doublet of bauer, Boer, and bower (“peasant, farmer”). For the meaning development compare with Russian обыва́тель (obyvátelʹ, “the average man/citizen, the man in the street, philistine, resident, inhabitant”), Polish bydło (“cattle, rabble”) (whence Russian бы́дло (býdlo, “rabble, uncultured or stupid people, sheeple”)).

This word in other languages

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 "boor"?
"boor" is spelled B-O-O-R. The IPA pronunciation is /bʊə/.
What does "boor" mean?
As a noun, "boor" means: A peasant.
How do you pronounce "boor"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "boor" is /bʊə/. 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 "boor"?
Borrowed from Dutch boer (“peasant”). Doublet of bauer, Boer, and bower (“peasant, farmer”). For the meaning development compare with Russian обыва́тель (obyvátelʹ, “the average man/citizen, the man in the street, philistine, resident, inhabitant”... 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 "boor", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list