boubou

noun

"boubou" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“boubou” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A flowing wide-sleeved robe worn by men in much of West Africa, and to a lesser extent in North Africa.

Key facts for boubou
PropertyValue
Headwordboubou
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “boubou” sits in English frequency

boubou falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

boubou is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for boubou in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French boubou, from Wolof mbubb. The bird name is onomatopoeic. The correct English form is boubou, spelled B-O-U-B-O-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    A flowing wide-sleeved robe worn by men in much of West Africa, and to a lesser extent in North Africa.
  2. 2
    Any of certain species of birds in the bushshrike genus Laniarius.

Etymology

From French boubou, from Wolof mbubb. The bird name is onomatopoeic.

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "boubou"?
"boubou" is spelled B-O-U-B-O-U.
What does "boubou" mean?
As a noun, "boubou" means: A flowing wide-sleeved robe worn by men in much of West Africa, and to a lesser extent in North Africa.
What is the origin of the word "boubou"?
From French boubou, from Wolof mbubb. The bird name is onomatopoeic. 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.

Using “boubou”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is B-O-U-B-O-U - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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