concave

/ˈkɒn.keɪv/

//ˈkɒn.keɪv// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"concave" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“concave” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #28,155. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#28,155
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Curved like the inner surface of a sphere or bowl.

Corpus desk

Index EN-concave · concave · English

concave · rank #28,155 · 10 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #28,155
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH colorless

Nearest frequency peer: colorless (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “concave”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “concave” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

concave vs concede
71% similar
concave vs concise
71% similar
concave vs conceive
75% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for concave
PropertyValue
Headwordconcave
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈkɒn.keɪv/
Letters7
Frequency rank#28,155
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “concave” sits in English frequency

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).concavelands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “colorless” (#28,154), “consequent” (#28,157), “cleanly” (#28,152). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around concave (IPA /ˈkɒn.keɪv/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #28,155 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for concave, with forms such as "cconcave", "cnocave", and "cocnave". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "concede", "concise", "conceive", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English concave, from Old French concave, from Latin concavus. The correct English form is concave, spelled C-O-N-C-A-V-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Curved like the inner surface of a sphere or bowl.
  2. 2
    Not convex; having at least one internal angle greater than 180 degrees.
  3. 3
    Satisfying the property that all segments connecting two points on the function's graph lie below the function.
  4. 4
    Hollow; empty.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. as concave […] as a worm-eaten nut

Etymology

From Middle English concave, from Old French concave, from Latin concavus.

Synonyms

concavous

Antonyms

convex

This word in other languages

cóncavo(Español)concave(Français)konkav(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cconcave
  • cnocave
  • cocnave
  • conacve
  • concaev
  • concavve
  • conccave
  • concvae
  • conncave
  • ocncave

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of concave - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

cconcave1cnocave2cocnave2conacve2concaev2concavve1conccave1concvae2
Edit distance from "concave"

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 "concave"?
"concave" is spelled C-O-N-C-A-V-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkɒn.keɪv/.
What does "concave" mean?
As an adjective, "concave" means: Curved like the inner surface of a sphere or bowl.
What words are commonly confused with "concave"?
"concave" is commonly confused with "concede", "concise", "conceive". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "concave"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "concave" is /ˈkɒn.keɪv/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "concave"?
From Middle English concave, from Old French concave, from Latin concavus. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "concave", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

cleanly#28,152Chechen#28,149Candace#28,146belated#28,128

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

barista10 variantsEphraim10 variantsEricsson10 variantsalluring10 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "concave". Here's where to go from here.

  • "concave" maps to 4 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "concede". View pair
  • 10 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #28,155 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "C" letter cohort. C–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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