cumbia

/ˈkumbja/

//ˈkumbja// noun

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

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

The verdict

“cumbia” is uncommon English (frequency #82,205 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#82,205
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A traditional style of Colombian dance and music, or a piece in this style.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cumbia · cumbia · English

cumbia · rank #82,205 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #82,205
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH Cyrenaica

Nearest frequency peer: Cyrenaica (+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 “cumbia”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for cumbia
PropertyValue
Headwordcumbia
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈkumbja/
Letters6
Frequency rank#82,205
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “cumbia” 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).cumbiafalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “Cyrenaica” (#82,206), “crossman” (#82,203), “Cyrene” (#82,207). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cumbia” is #82,205. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cumbia is uncommon English at frequency #82,205 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkumbja/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A traditional style of Colombian dance and music, or a piece in this style.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for cumbia, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Colombian and Panamanian Spanish cumbia. The correct English form is cumbia, spelled C-U-M-B-I-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    A traditional style of Colombian dance and music, or a piece in this style.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. There’s […] an accordion- and brass-pumped Colombian cumbia for “Cumbia de Los Aburridos” (“Cumbia of the Bored”).

Etymology

From Colombian and Panamanian Spanish cumbia.

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 "cumbia"?
"cumbia" is spelled C-U-M-B-I-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkumbja/.
What does "cumbia" mean?
As a noun, "cumbia" means: A traditional style of Colombian dance and music, or a piece in this style.
How do you pronounce "cumbia"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cumbia" is /ˈkumbja/. 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 "cumbia"?
From Colombian and Panamanian Spanish cumbia. 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 "cumbia", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Cyrene#82,207Daoist#82,211coring#82,193drippy#82,244

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list