bottleneck

noun

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

"bottleneck" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bottleneck” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #29,940. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#29,940
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
14
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The narrow portion that forms the pouring spout of a bottle; the neck of a bottle.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bottleneck · bottleneck · English

bottleneck · rank #29,940 · 14 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #29,940
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH bossy

Nearest frequency peer: bossy (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “bottleneck”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “bottleneck” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for bottleneck
PropertyValue
Headwordbottleneck
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Frequency rank#29,940
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “bottleneck”

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).bottlenecklands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “bossy” (#29,939), “Bradbury” (#29,941), “Bolshevik” (#29,938). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bottleneck” is #29,940. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around bottleneck, anoun. Corpus frequency is #29,940 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for bottleneck, with forms such as "bbottleneck", "botleneck", and "botlteneck". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From bottle + neck. The correct English form is bottleneck, spelled B-O-T-T-L-E-N-E-C-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    The narrow portion that forms the pouring spout of a bottle; the neck of a bottle.
  2. 2
    The narrow portion that forms the pouring spout of a bottle; the neck of a bottle.
  3. 3
    In traffic, any narrowing of the road, especially resulting in a delay.
  4. 4
    The part of a process that is too slow or cumbersome.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. "Permissive" working allows more than one train to be in a block section at one time but trains must be run at low speed in order to stop on sight behind the train in front. Such working is often authorised to allow freight trains to "bunch" together to await a path through a bottleneck instead of being strung out over several block sections, as would be…
  2. At one time, Reading was regarded as a notorious bottleneck in the rail network, almost incapable of managing the number of services that needed to pass through the station each day. [...] A road widening scheme at Cow Lane has also allowed two-way traffic to run beneath the railway for the first time, helping to remove a notorious road traffic bottleneck…

Etymology

From bottle + neck.

This word in other languages

cuello de botella(Español)goulot(Français)Flaschenhals(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbottleneck
  • botleneck
  • botlteneck
  • bottelneck
  • bottleenck
  • bottlencek
  • bottlenecck
  • bottleneckk
  • bottlenekc
  • bottlenneck
  • bottlleneck
  • bottlneeck
  • btotleneck
  • obttleneck

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bottleneck - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

bbottleneck1botleneck1botlteneck2bottelneck2bottleenck2bottlencek2bottlenecck1bottleneckk1
Edit distance from "bottleneck"

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 "bottleneck"?
"bottleneck" is spelled B-O-T-T-L-E-N-E-C-K.
What does "bottleneck" mean?
As a noun, "bottleneck" means: The narrow portion that forms the pouring spout of a bottle; the neck of a bottle.
What are common misspellings of "bottleneck"?
Common misspellings include "bbottleneck", "botleneck", "botlteneck", "bottelneck", "bottleenck". The correct spelling is "bottleneck".
What is the origin of the word "bottleneck"?
From bottle + neck. 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 "bottleneck", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Chelmsford#29,964wrongfully#29,893deactivate#29,991vindictive#29,882

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

Bolshevik14 variantsblackwood14 variantsannihilated14 variantsClaremont14 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list