brad
/bɹad/
"brad" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“brad” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #5,861 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #5,861
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A thin, small nail, with a slight projection at the top on one side instead of a head, or occasionally with a small domed head, similar to that of an escutcheon pin.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | brad |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /bɹad/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #5,861 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “brad” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for brad is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bɹad/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,861 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for brad, with forms such as "bbrad", "bradd", and "brda". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "bro", "bud", "BRB", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Late Middle English brad, variant of brod(d), from Old Norse broddr (“spike, shaft”), from Proto-Germanic *bruzdaz (compare Old English brord, Old High German brort), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrusdʰos (compare Welsh brath (“sting, prick”), Albanian bredh … The correct English form is brad, spelled B-R-A-D.
Definition
- 1A thin, small nail, with a slight projection at the top on one side instead of a head, or occasionally with a small domed head, similar to that of an escutcheon pin.
- 2A paper fastener, a fastening device formed of thin, soft metal, such as shim brass, with a round head and a flat, split shank, which is spread after insertion in a hole in a stack of pages, in much the same way as a cotter pin or a split rivet.
Etymology
Late Middle English brad, variant of brod(d), from Old Norse broddr (“spike, shaft”), from Proto-Germanic *bruzdaz (compare Old English brord, Old High German brort), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰrusdʰos (compare Welsh brath (“sting, prick”), Albanian bredh (“fir-tree”), Lithuanian bruzdùklis (“bridle”), Czech brzda (“brake”). Doublet of prod.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbrad,bradd,brda,brrad,rbad
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of brad - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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
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Using “brad”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-R-A-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /bɹad/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “bro” - see the side-by-side comparison. brad vs bro
- 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.