bork

/bɔːk/

//bɔːk// verb

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

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

The verdict

“bork” is uncommon English (frequency #52,817 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,817
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To defeat a person's appointment or election, judicial nomination, etc., through a concerted attack on the person's character, background, and philosophy.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bork · bork · English

bork · rank #52,817 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,817
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bonito

Nearest frequency peer: bonito (-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 “bork”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for bork
PropertyValue
Headwordbork
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/bɔːk/
Letters4
Frequency rank#52,817
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “bork” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).borkfalls 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: “bonito” (#52,816), “botnet” (#52,818), “boning” (#52,815). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bork” is #52,817. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

bork is uncommon English at frequency #52,817 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /bɔːk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To defeat a person's appointment or election, judicial nomination, etc., through a concerted attack on the person's character, background, and philosophy.".

bork has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: A reference to the unsuccessful 1987 United States Supreme Court nomination of Robert Bork (1927–2012); first appeared in print that same year. The correct English form is bork, spelled B-O-R-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    To defeat a person's appointment or election, judicial nomination, etc., through a concerted attack on the person's character, background, and philosophy.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. In light of the current furor over trying to appoint a new Supreme Court justice, I would like to submit a new verb in the English language. Three forms would be "to bork," "borking," and "borked." This would describe the act of partisan political character assassination.
  2. George [H. W.] Bush will almost certainly have an opportunity to nominate one or more justices. It would be a pity for all of us if they are subjected to the treatment accorded Robert Bork. Honest disagreement is one thing; "borking" is something else.

Etymology

A reference to the unsuccessful 1987 United States Supreme Court nomination of Robert Bork (1927–2012); first appeared in print that same year.

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 "bork"?
"bork" is spelled B-O-R-K. The IPA pronunciation is /bɔːk/.
What does "bork" mean?
As a verb, "bork" means: To defeat a person's appointment or election, judicial nomination, etc., through a concerted attack on the person's character, background, and philosophy.
How do you pronounce "bork"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bork" is /bɔːk/. 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 "bork"?
A reference to the unsuccessful 1987 United States Supreme Court nomination of Robert Bork (1927–2012); first appeared in print that same year. 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 "bork", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Brno#52,827bata#52,802Cima#52,864coot#52,870

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list