brushwork

noun

"brushwork" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“brushwork” is uncommon English (frequency #81,185 among 31,241 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#81,185
frequency rank, English
31,241
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The technique or practice of applying and manipulating paint (usually oil or gouache) in a painting.

Key facts for brushwork
PropertyValue
Headwordbrushwork
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters9
Frequency rank#81,185
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “brushwork” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). brushwork lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

brushwork is uncommon English at frequency #81,185 among 31,241 “B” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The technique or practice of applying and manipulating paint (usually oil or gouache) in a painting.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for brushwork in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From brush + work. The correct English form is brushwork, spelled B-R-U-S-H-W-O-R-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    The technique or practice of applying and manipulating paint (usually oil or gouache) in a painting.

Etymology

From brush + work.

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 "brushwork"?
"brushwork" is spelled B-R-U-S-H-W-O-R-K.
What does "brushwork" mean?
As a noun, "brushwork" means: The technique or practice of applying and manipulating paint (usually oil or gouache) in a painting.
What is the origin of the word "brushwork"?
From brush + work. 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 “brushwork”

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

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

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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