curlew
/ˈkɜːlju/
"curlew" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“curlew” is uncommon English (frequency #68,137 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #68,137
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of several migratory wading birds in the genus Numenius, remarkable for their long, slender, downcurved bills.
Corpus desk
Index EN-curlew · curlew · English
curlew · rank #68,137 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #68,137
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH cultivator
Nearest frequency peer: cultivator (-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 “curlew”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- crowdfunded
crowdfunded
31,868 corpus weight
- cultivator
cultivator
31,865 corpus weight
- curlew
curlew
31,864 corpus weight
- cytosolic
cytosolic
31,863 corpus weight
- debaters
debaters
31,861 corpus weight
- decelerate
decelerate
31,860 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “curlew” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | curlew |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkɜːlju/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #68,137 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “curlew” in English
Rare enough to double-check
curlew is uncommon English at frequency #68,137 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkɜːlju/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for curlew, 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 Middle English curlew, from Old French courlieu (see French courlis), claimed to be imitative of the bird's cry but apparently assimilated with dialectal *corliu (“runner, messenger”), a variant of coureur (the bird is adept at running). The correct English form is curlew, spelled C-U-R-L-E-W.
Definition
- 1Any of several migratory wading birds in the genus Numenius, remarkable for their long, slender, downcurved bills.
- 2A stone curlew (Burhinidae spp.).
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how curlew appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
That quivering wail from the billabong lying murkily mystic towards the East was only the cry of the fearing curlew.
Etymology
From Middle English curlew, from Old French courlieu (see French courlis), claimed to be imitative of the bird's cry but apparently assimilated with dialectal *corliu (“runner, messenger”), a variant of coureur (the bird is adept at running).
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 "curlew", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).