cornflour

/ˈkɔːn.flaʊə/

//ˈkɔːn.flaʊə// noun

"cornflour" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cornflour” is uncommon English (frequency #97,971 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#97,971
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A very fine starch powder derived from corn (maize) used in cooking as a thickener, to keep things from sticking, or as an anti-caking agent.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cornflour · cornflour · English

cornflour · rank #97,971 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #97,971
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH Coolangatta

Nearest frequency peer: Coolangatta (-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 “cornflour”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “cornflour” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for cornflour
PropertyValue
Headwordcornflour
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkɔːn.flaʊə/
Letters9
Frequency rank#97,971
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “cornflour” in English

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).cornflourfalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “Coolangatta” (#97,970), “corpuscles” (#97,972), “Cotterell” (#97,974). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cornflour” is #97,971. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cornflour is uncommon English at frequency #97,971 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkɔːn.flaʊə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

cornflour has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From corn + flour. Piecewise doublet of cornflower. The correct English form is cornflour, spelled C-O-R-N-F-L-O-U-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A very fine starch powder derived from corn (maize) used in cooking as a thickener, to keep things from sticking, or as an anti-caking agent.
  2. 2
    A flour for baking and cooking that is ground from corn (maize).

Etymology

From corn + flour. Piecewise doublet of cornflower.

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

How do you spell "cornflour"?
"cornflour" is spelled C-O-R-N-F-L-O-U-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkɔːn.flaʊə/.
What does "cornflour" mean?
As a noun, "cornflour" means: A very fine starch powder derived from corn (maize) used in cooking as a thickener, to keep things from sticking, or as an anti-caking agent.
How do you pronounce "cornflour"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cornflour" is /ˈkɔːn.flaʊə/. 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 "cornflour"?
From corn + flour. Piecewise doublet of cornflower. 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 "cornflour", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list