croak

/kɹoʊk/

//kɹoʊk// noun

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

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

The verdict

“croak” is uncommon English (frequency #59,307 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#59,307
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A faint, harsh sound made in the throat.

Corpus desk

Index EN-croak · croak · English

croak · rank #59,307 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #59,307
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH creasing

Nearest frequency peer: creasing (-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 “croak”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for croak
PropertyValue
Headwordcroak
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kɹoʊk/
Letters5
Frequency rank#59,307
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “croak” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).croakfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “creasing” (#59,306), “crowed” (#59,308), “crapped” (#59,305). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “croak” is #59,307. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

croak is uncommon English at frequency #59,307 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /kɹoʊk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for croak in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English *croken, crouken, (also represented by craken > crake), back-formation from Old English crācettan (“to croak”) (also in derivative crǣcetung (“croaking”)), from Proto-Germanic *krēk-, from Proto-Indo-European *greh₂-g-, from *greh₂-k-, o… The correct English form is croak, spelled C-R-O-A-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    A faint, harsh sound made in the throat.
  2. 2
    The call of a frog or toad.
  3. 3
    The harsh call of various birds, such as the raven or corncrake, or other creatures.

Etymology

From Middle English *croken, crouken, (also represented by craken > crake), back-formation from Old English crācettan (“to croak”) (also in derivative crǣcetung (“croaking”)), from Proto-Germanic *krēk-, from Proto-Indo-European *greh₂-g-, from *greh₂-k-, of onomatopoeic origin. See also Swedish kråka, German krächzen, Sanskrit गर्जति (garjati, “to growl”); also compare Latin grāculus (“jackdaw”), Serbo-Croatian grákati. More at crack, crake and craic.

This word in other languages

croac(Español)coassement(Français)Quaken(Deutsch)coaxo(Português)

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 "croak"?
"croak" is spelled C-R-O-A-K. The IPA pronunciation is /kɹoʊk/.
What does "croak" mean?
As a noun, "croak" means: A faint, harsh sound made in the throat.
How do you pronounce "croak"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "croak" is /kɹoʊk/. 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 "croak"?
From Middle English *croken, crouken, (also represented by craken > crake), back-formation from Old English crācettan (“to croak”) (also in derivative crǣcetung (“croaking”)), from Proto-Germanic *krēk-, from Proto-Indo-European *greh₂-g-, from *g... 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 "croak", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

cowed#59,302coots#59,297clued#59,277chafe#59,270

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list