cropper

noun

"cropper" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cropper” is uncommon English (frequency #51,043 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#51,043
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A fall, a tumble; a decided failure.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cropper · cropper · English

cropper · rank #51,043 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #51,043
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH criminalizati…

Nearest frequency peer: criminalization (-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 “cropper”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for cropper
PropertyValue
Headwordcropper
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters7
Frequency rank#51,043
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “cropper” 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).cropperfalls 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: “criminalization” (#51,042), “crowing” (#51,044), “counterinsurgency” (#51,038). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cropper” is #51,043. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cropper is uncommon English at frequency #51,043 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A fall, a tumble; a decided failure.".

cropper has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: See come a cropper. The correct English form is cropper, spelled C-R-O-P-P-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A fall, a tumble; a decided failure.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how cropper appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. But to myself I thought: ‘Considering that for eight whole years I sat on the front bench as top of the class while he drifted about somewhere in the middle, he can hardly fail to nourish a wish, left over from his schooldays, that some day or other I may come a complete cropper.’
  2. You're riding for a fall, Healey, you know that? There are hedges and ditches ahead and you are on course for an almighty cropper.

Etymology

See come a cropper.

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 "cropper"?
"cropper" is spelled C-R-O-P-P-E-R.
What does "cropper" mean?
As a noun, "cropper" means: A fall, a tumble; a decided failure.
What is the origin of the word "cropper"?
See come a cropper. 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 "cropper", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list