curl
/kɜːl/
"curl" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“curl” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #14,502 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #14,502
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A curving piece or lock of hair; a ringlet.
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
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for curl is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kɜːl/. Corpus data places it at rank #14,502 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 12 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “curl”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-U-R-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kɜːl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “cut” - see the side-by-side comparison. curl vs cut
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.