cubism

/ˈkjuː.bɪz.əm/

//ˈkjuː.bɪz.əm// noun

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

"cubism" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cubism” is uncommon English (frequency #59,310 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#59,310
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An artistic movement in the early 20th Century characterized by the depiction of natural forms as geometric structures of planes.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cubism · cubism · English

cubism · rank #59,310 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #59,310
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH cubist

Nearest frequency peer: cubist (+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 “cubism”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for cubism
PropertyValue
Headwordcubism
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkjuː.bɪz.əm/
Letters6
Frequency rank#59,310
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “cubism” 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).cubismfalls 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: “cubist” (#59,311), “crowed” (#59,308), “cud” (#59,312). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cubism” is #59,310. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cubism is uncommon English at frequency #59,310 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkjuː.bɪz.əm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An artistic movement in the early 20th Century characterized by the depiction of natural forms as geometric structures of planes.".

Zero misspellings are on record for cubism in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French cubisme. One story is that, in 1908, as a new canvas by Braque was being carried past, someone said, “Encore des cubes! assez de cubisme!”. The quotations below ascribe the coinage to Matisse. Sometimes attributed to French art critic Louis Vaux… The correct English form is cubism, spelled C-U-B-I-S-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    An artistic movement in the early 20th Century characterized by the depiction of natural forms as geometric structures of planes.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Matisse coined the name Cubism as a derisive joke.
  2. A few recall that, in 1908, he [Matisse] inspired the coinage of the term “cubism,” in disparagement of a movement that would eclipse his leading influence on the Parisian avant-garde.

Etymology

From French cubisme. One story is that, in 1908, as a new canvas by Braque was being carried past, someone said, “Encore des cubes! assez de cubisme!”. The quotations below ascribe the coinage to Matisse. Sometimes attributed to French art critic Louis Vauxcelles who popularized the term. See also the word cube (from Latin cubus, from Ancient Greek κύβος (kúbos)).

This word in other languages

cubismo(Español)cubisme(Français)Kubismus(Deutsch)cubismo(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 "cubism"?
"cubism" is spelled C-U-B-I-S-M. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkjuː.bɪz.əm/.
What does "cubism" mean?
As a noun, "cubism" means: An artistic movement in the early 20th Century characterized by the depiction of natural forms as geometric structures of planes.
How do you pronounce "cubism"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cubism" is /ˈkjuː.bɪz.əm/. 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 "cubism"?
From French cubisme. One story is that, in 1908, as a new canvas by Braque was being carried past, someone said, “Encore des cubes! assez de cubisme!”. The quotations below ascribe the coinage to Matisse. Sometimes attributed to French art critic ... 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 "cubism", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

cubist#59,311crowed#59,308Dailey#59,316deride#59,339

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list