clampdown
"clampdown" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“clampdown” is uncommon English (frequency #75,730 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #75,730
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A sudden repressive or punitive restriction or control.
Corpus desk
Index EN-clampdown · clampdown · English
clampdown · rank #75,730 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #75,730
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH clambering
Nearest frequency peer: clambering (-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 “clampdown”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- chitosan
chitosan
24,277 corpus weight
- Chuka
Chuka
24,275 corpus weight
- churlish
churlish
24,274 corpus weight
- circumnavig…
circumnavigation
24,273 corpus weight
- clambering
clambering
24,272 corpus weight
- clampdown
clampdown
24,271 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “clampdown” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | clampdown |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #75,730 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “clampdown” in English
Rare enough to double-check
clampdown is uncommon English at frequency #75,730 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A sudden repressive or punitive restriction or control.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for clampdown, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: Deverbal from clamp down. The correct English form is clampdown, spelled C-L-A-M-P-D-O-W-N.
Definition
- 1A sudden repressive or punitive restriction or control.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how clampdown appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The suspension of the writ of habeas corpus is merely one step towards the imposition of martial law, toward a total clampdown on all forms of peaceful struggle for meaningful change.
There is already in the EU a clamour for barriers against competing products from Eastern Europe and Asia, and for a Europe-wide clampdown on 'aliens'.
Etymology
Deverbal from clamp down.
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 "clampdown", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).