cannon fodder
"cannon-fodder" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cannon fodder” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Military forces considered to be expendable.
Corpus desk
Index EN-cannon-fodder · cannon fodder · English
cannon fodder · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 13 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "C" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cannon fodder |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “cannon fodder” in English
Rare enough to double-check
cannon fodder is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
cannon fodder has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Mid-19th century, from cannon (“artillery piece”) + fodder (“food”), a calque of German Kanonenfutter, itself possibly a calque of English food for powder. See the German for more. The correct English form is cannon fodder, spelled C-A-N-N-O-N- -F-O-D-D-E-R.
Definition
- 1Military forces considered to be expendable.
- 2Any group of contestants that have no hope of success.
- 3Artillery ammunition.
- 4An expendable minor character primarily included to make the protagonist(s) stand out.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how cannon fodder appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
"A foolish old half-pay officer," boomed Sir Hilton. "Go back to your club, sir, and play bridge with other superannuated cannon-fodder, sir."
Soviet communism is trying to make these nations into colonies, and to use their people as cannon fodder in new wars of conquest.
Etymology
Mid-19th century, from cannon (“artillery piece”) + fodder (“food”), a calque of German Kanonenfutter, itself possibly a calque of English food for powder. See the German for more.
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.