curdle

/ˈkɜː.dəl/

//ˈkɜː.dəl// verb

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

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

The verdict

“curdle” is uncommon English (frequency #92,506 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#92,506
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To form curds so that it no longer flows smoothly; to cause to form such curds. (usually said of milk)

Corpus desk

Index EN-curdle · curdle · English

curdle · rank #92,506 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #92,506
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH cultish

Nearest frequency peer: cultish (-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 “curdle”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for curdle
PropertyValue
Headwordcurdle
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈkɜː.dəl/
Letters6
Frequency rank#92,506
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “curdle” 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).curdlefalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “cultish” (#92,505), “cybersex” (#92,507), “cuc” (#92,504). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “curdle” is #92,506. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

curdle is uncommon English at frequency #92,506 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈkɜː.dəl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for curdle in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. 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: Metathesis of earlier dialectal cruddle, crudle, equivalent to curd + -le (frequentative suffix). The correct English form is curdle, spelled C-U-R-D-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To form curds so that it no longer flows smoothly; to cause to form such curds. (usually said of milk)
  2. 2
    To clot or coagulate; to cause to congeal, such as through cold. (metaphorically of blood)
  3. 3
    To cause a liquid to spoil and form clumps so that it no longer flows smoothly.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Too much lemon will curdle the milk in your tea.
  2. "Vich Ian Vohr," it said, in a voice that made my very blood curdle, "beware of to-morrow!"

Etymology

Metathesis of earlier dialectal cruddle, crudle, equivalent to curd + -le (frequentative suffix).

This word in other languages

cuajar(Español)cailler(Français)gerinnen(Deutsch)coagular(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 "curdle"?
"curdle" is spelled C-U-R-D-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈkɜː.dəl/.
What does "curdle" mean?
As a verb, "curdle" means: To form curds so that it no longer flows smoothly; to cause to form such curds. (usually said of milk)
How do you pronounce "curdle"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "curdle" is /ˈkɜː.dəl/. 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 "curdle"?
Metathesis of earlier dialectal cruddle, crudle, equivalent to curd + -le (frequentative suffix). 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 "curdle", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

cuboid#92,503Darwen#92,515Dickon#92,531diener#92,532

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list