craic

/kɹæk/

//kɹæk// noun

"craic" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“craic” is uncommon English (frequency #67,334 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#67,334
frequency rank, English
43,570
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Often preceded by the: amusement, fun, especially through enjoyable company; also, pleasant conversation.

Key facts for craic
PropertyValue
Headwordcraic
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kɹæk/
Letters5
Frequency rank#67,334
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “craic” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). craic lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

craic is uncommon English at frequency #67,334 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /kɹæk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Often preceded by the: amusement, fun, especially through enjoyable company; also, pleasant conversation.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for craic, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Variant of crack, respelled after Irish craic (itself a borrowing from English). The correct English form is craic, spelled C-R-A-I-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    Often preceded by the: amusement, fun, especially through enjoyable company; also, pleasant conversation.

Etymology

Variant of crack, respelled after Irish craic (itself a borrowing from English).

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 "craic"?
"craic" is spelled C-R-A-I-C. The IPA pronunciation is /kɹæk/.
What does "craic" mean?
As a noun, "craic" means: Often preceded by the: amusement, fun, especially through enjoyable company; also, pleasant conversation.
How do you pronounce "craic"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "craic" is /kɹæk/. 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 "craic"?
Variant of crack, respelled after Irish craic (itself a borrowing from English). 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.

Using “craic”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is C-R-A-I-C - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /kɹæk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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