carom
/ˈkæɹəm/
"carom" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“carom” is uncommon English (frequency #97,910 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #97,910
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A shot in which the ball struck with the cue comes in contact with two or more balls on the table; a hitting of two or more balls with the player's ball.
Corpus desk
Index EN-carom · carom · English
carom · rank #97,910 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #97,910
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH carny
Nearest frequency peer: carny (-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.
Long-tail ranks near “carom”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- calumny
calumny
2,095 corpus weight
- Cammie
Cammie
2,094 corpus weight
- carny
carny
2,092 corpus weight
- carom
carom
2,091 corpus weight
- catabolic
catabolic
2,086 corpus weight
- catenary
catenary
2,084 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “carom” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | carom |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkæɹəm/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #97,910 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “carom” in English
Rare enough to double-check
carom is uncommon English at frequency #97,910 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkæɹəm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for carom, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Probably derived from French carambole (the red ball in billiards). The correct English form is carom, spelled C-A-R-O-M.
Definition
- 1A shot in which the ball struck with the cue comes in contact with two or more balls on the table; a hitting of two or more balls with the player's ball.
- 2A billiard-like Indian game in which players take turns flicking checker-like pieces into one of four goals on the corners of a board measuring one meter by one meter.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how carom appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
He loved playing carrom in his free time.
Etymology
Probably derived from French carambole (the red ball in billiards).
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); 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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "carom", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).