common as bums

adj

"common-as-bums" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“common as bums” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Very common or mundane (in various senses).

Corpus desk

Index EN-common-as-bums · common as bums · English

common as bums · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 14 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.

Key facts for common as bums
PropertyValue
Headwordcommon as bums
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “common as bums” in English

common as bumsfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

common as bums is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Very common or mundane (in various senses).".

No misspelling variants are generated for common as bums in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is common as bums, spelled C-O-M-M-O-N- -A-S- -B-U-M-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Very common or mundane (in various senses).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how common as bums appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Bruises and bumps in the Kentucky camp were as common as bums at a free barbecue.
  2. He made a face. "What for? You don't want a vineyard there. They're as common as bums; everybody's got one."

Synonyms

common as pig trackscommon as muck

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "common as bums"?
"common as bums" is spelled C-O-M-M-O-N- -A-S- -B-U-M-S.
What does "common as bums" mean?
As an adjective, "common as bums" means: Very common or mundane (in various senses).
What language does "common as bums" come from?
"common as bums" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list