cramp
/kɹæmp/
"cramp" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cramp” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #27,418 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #27,418
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A painful contraction of a muscle which cannot be controlled; (sometimes) a similar pain even without noticeable contraction.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | cramp |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kɹæmp/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #27,418 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cramp” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for cramp is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kɹæmp/. Corpus data places it at rank #27,418 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for cramp, with forms such as "carmp", "ccramp", and "crammp". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "CRM", "crap", "crop", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *krampôder. Frankish *krampōder. Proto-Germanic *krampôder. Middle Dutch crampeder. Old French crampebor. Middle English crampe English cramp From Middle English crampe, from Old French crampe (“cramp”), from Frankish *krampa (… The correct English form is cramp, spelled C-R-A-M-P.
Definition
- 1A painful contraction of a muscle which cannot be controlled; (sometimes) a similar pain even without noticeable contraction.
- 2That which confines or contracts.
- 3A clamp for carpentry or masonry.
- 4A piece of wood having a curve corresponding to that of the upper part of the instep, on which the upper leather of a boot is stretched to give it the requisite shape.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Germanic *krampôder. Frankish *krampōder. Proto-Germanic *krampôder. Middle Dutch crampeder. Old French crampebor. Middle English crampe English cramp From Middle English crampe, from Old French crampe (“cramp”), from Frankish *krampa (“cramp”), from Proto-West Germanic *krampu, from Proto-Germanic *krampō (“cramp, clasp”). Distant relative of English crop.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: carmp,ccramp,crammp,crampp,crapm,crmap,crramp,rcamp
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cramp - 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.
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 "cramp"?
What does "cramp" mean?
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Using “cramp”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-R-A-M-P - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kɹæmp/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “CRM” - see the side-by-side comparison. cramp vs CRM
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.