curl
/kɜːl/
"curl" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“curl” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #14,502. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #14,502
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A curving piece or lock of hair; a ringlet.
Corpus desk
Index EN-curl · curl · English
curl · rank #14,502 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #14,502
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH cruising
Nearest frequency peer: cruising (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “curl”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- cores
cores
85,502 corpus weight
- cruiser
cruiser
85,501 corpus weight
- cruising
cruising
85,500 corpus weight
- curl
curl
85,499 corpus weight
- dams
dams
85,498 corpus weight
- dared
dared
85,497 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “curl” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | curl |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kɜːl/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #14,502 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “curl” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around curl (IPA /kɜːl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #14,502 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 12 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for curl, with forms such as "ccurl", "crul", and "culr". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "cut", "cuz", "cute", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From metathesis of Middle English crulle (“curled, curly”), of uncertain origin but probably from an unrecorded Old English word or from Middle Dutch crul, crulle (“curl”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kruzlǭ (“bent or crooked object, curl”), connected t… The correct English form is curl, spelled C-U-R-L.
Definition
- 1A curving piece or lock of hair; a ringlet.
- 2A curved stroke or shape.
- 3A spin making the trajectory of an object curve.
- 4Movement of a moving rock away from a straight line.
- 5Any exercise performed by bending the arm, wrist, or leg on the exertion against resistance, especially those that train the biceps.
- 6The vector field denoting the rotationality of a given vector field.
- 7The vector operator, denoted rm curl; or ⃑∇×⃑(·), that generates this field.
- 8Any of various diseases of plants causing the leaves or shoots to curl up; often specifically the potato curl.
- 9The contrasting light and dark figure seen in wood used for stringed instrument making; the flame.
- 10A pattern where the receiver appears to be running a fly pattern but after a set number of steps or yards quickly stops and turns around, looking for a pass.
- 11A thin, curved piece of chocolate used as decoration.
- 12The concave part of a breaking wave.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how curl appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
My hair doesn't have much curl.
[…]she took it down, looked long and fondly at it, then, shaking her curls about her face, as if to hide the act, pressed it to her lips and seemed to weep over it in an uncontrollable paroxysm of tender grief.
Etymology
From metathesis of Middle English crulle (“curled, curly”), of uncertain origin but probably from an unrecorded Old English word or from Middle Dutch crul, crulle (“curl”), ultimately from Proto-Germanic *kruzlǭ (“bent or crooked object, curl”), connected to *krūsą (“curl”), of unknown origin. Cognate with Saterland Frisian Krulle (“curl, lock”), West Frisian krul (“curl”), Dutch krul (“curl”), German Low German Krull (“curl”), dialectal German Krolle (“curl”), Danish krølle (“curl”), Norwegian Bokmål krøll (“curl”). Related also to Saterland Frisian Kruus (“curl”), German kraus (“frizzy, crumpled, curly”), Danish krus (“curl”), Swedish krusa (“to crimp, curl”). Compare also Gothic 𐌺𐍂𐌹𐌿𐍃𐍄𐌰𐌽 (kriustan, “to grind, crush, gnash”).
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ccurl
- crul
- culr
- curll
- currl
- ucrl
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of curl - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "curl", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "curl". Here's where to go from here.
- "curl" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "cut". View pair
- 6 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #14,502 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "C" letter cohort. C–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.