cowlick
/ˈkaʊˌlɪk/
"cowlick" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cowlick” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An unruly lock or section of hair that sticks straight out from the skull or lies at an angle at odds with the rest of an individual's hair, like a whorl or vortex.
Corpus desk
Index EN-cowlick · cowlick · English
cowlick · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cowlick |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkaʊˌlɪk/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “cowlick” in English
Rare enough to double-check
cowlick is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkaʊˌlɪk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An unruly lock or section of hair that sticks straight out from the skull or lies at an angle at odds with the rest of an individual's hair, like a whorl or vortex.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for cowlick, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From cow + lick; as the hair may appear to have been licked into place by a cow. The correct English form is cowlick, spelled C-O-W-L-I-C-K.
Definition
- 1An unruly lock or section of hair that sticks straight out from the skull or lies at an angle at odds with the rest of an individual's hair, like a whorl or vortex.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how cowlick appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
We would touch strangers discreetly, feathering down their cowlicks.
Etymology
From cow + lick; as the hair may appear to have been licked into place by a cow.
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.