curmudgeon

/kɜːˈmʌdʒ.ən/

//kɜːˈmʌdʒ.ən// noun

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

"curmudgeon" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“curmudgeon” is uncommon English (frequency #74,008 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#74,008
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An ill-tempered person full of stubborn ideas or opinions, often an older man.

Corpus desk

Index EN-curmudgeon · curmudgeon · English

curmudgeon · rank #74,008 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #74,008
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH culturing

Nearest frequency peer: culturing (-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 “curmudgeon”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for curmudgeon
PropertyValue
Headwordcurmudgeon
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kɜːˈmʌdʒ.ən/
Letters10
Frequency rank#74,008
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “curmudgeon” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).curmudgeonfalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “culturing” (#74,007), “Crumlin” (#74,004), “Dacre” (#74,012). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “curmudgeon” is #74,008. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

curmudgeon is uncommon English at frequency #74,008 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /kɜːˈmʌdʒ.ən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

curmudgeon has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: Numerous folk etymologies exist for this word. An alternative spelling attested in 1600 is cornmudgin, in Holland's translation of Livy, rendering Latin frūmentārius (“corn-merchant”). This has been suggested as the original form of the word, but OED notes … The correct English form is curmudgeon, spelled C-U-R-M-U-D-G-E-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    An ill-tempered person full of stubborn ideas or opinions, often an older man.
  2. 2
    A miser.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Near-synonyms: crank, grump; grumpy pants (often childish), sourpuss, grouch
  2. There's a cranky curmudgeon working at the hospital who gives all the patients and other doctors flak.

Etymology

Numerous folk etymologies exist for this word. An alternative spelling attested in 1600 is cornmudgin, in Holland's translation of Livy, rendering Latin frūmentārius (“corn-merchant”). This has been suggested as the original form of the word, but OED notes that curmudgeon is attested some years before this, concluding that cornmudgin was merely a nonce-word by Holland. The word is attested from the late 1500s in the forms curmudgeon and curmudgen, and during the 17th century in numerous spelling variants, including cormogeon, cormogion, cormoggian, cormudgeon, curmudgion, curmuggion, curmudgin, curr-mudgin, curre-megient.

This word in other languages

testarudo(Español)bourru(Français)Griesgram(Deutsch)caturra(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 "curmudgeon"?
"curmudgeon" is spelled C-U-R-M-U-D-G-E-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /kɜːˈmʌdʒ.ən/.
What does "curmudgeon" mean?
As a noun, "curmudgeon" means: An ill-tempered person full of stubborn ideas or opinions, often an older man.
How do you pronounce "curmudgeon"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "curmudgeon" is /kɜːˈmʌdʒ.ən/. 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 "curmudgeon"?
Numerous folk etymologies exist for this word. An alternative spelling attested in 1600 is cornmudgin, in Holland's translation of Livy, rendering Latin frūmentārius (“corn-merchant”). This has been suggested as the original form of the word, but ... 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 "curmudgeon", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

deregulate#74,024dispirited#74,034computable#73,975complainer#73,973

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list