curio
/ˈkjʊə̯ɹiˌəʊ̯/
"curio" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“curio” is uncommon English (frequency #57,316 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #57,316
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A strange and interesting object; something that evokes curiosity.
Corpus desk
Index EN-curio · curio · English
curio · rank #57,316 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #57,316
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH cultists
Nearest frequency peer: cultists (-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 “curio”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- crumbly
crumbly
42,688 corpus weight
- cultists
cultists
42,686 corpus weight
- curio
curio
42,685 corpus weight
- cushioning
cushioning
42,684 corpus weight
- cust
cust
42,683 corpus weight
- Cuzco
Cuzco
42,682 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “curio” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | curio |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkjʊə̯ɹiˌəʊ̯/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #57,316 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “curio” in English
Rare enough to double-check
curio is uncommon English at frequency #57,316 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkjʊə̯ɹiˌəʊ̯/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A strange and interesting object; something that evokes curiosity.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for curio, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Clipping of curiosity, 1851. Compare cabinet of curiosities and French objet de curiosité. The correct English form is curio, spelled C-U-R-I-O.
Definition
- 1A strange and interesting object; something that evokes curiosity.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how curio appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Staghorn ferns, with their antlerlike leaves, are really curios of ferndom and never fail to gain attention.
Video telephony is just about the only new technology from that particular movie that has appeared—and it was technically possible when the movie was showing. 2001 can be seen as a curio, but what about Star Trek?
Etymology
Clipping of curiosity, 1851. Compare cabinet of curiosities and French objet de curiosité.
This word in other languages
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "curio", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).