curveball
"curveball" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“curveball” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #41,070. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #41,070
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
- 12
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A forespin pitch thrown by rotating the index and middle fingers down and resulting in motion down "curve"
Corpus desk
Index EN-curveball · curveball · English
curveball · rank #41,070 · 12 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-MID #41,070
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-MID 12 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH CSE
Nearest frequency peer: CSE (-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 “curveball”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- creases
creases
58,935 corpus weight
- cribs
cribs
58,934 corpus weight
- CSE
CSE
58,932 corpus weight
- curveball
curveball
58,931 corpus weight
- cyan
cyan
58,929 corpus weight
- Danica
Danica
58,927 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “curveball” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | curveball |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #41,070 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “curveball” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 12 spelling variants around curveball, anoun. Corpus frequency is #41,070 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for curveball, with forms such as "ccurveball", "cruveball", and "curevball". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From curve + ball. The correct English form is curveball, spelled C-U-R-V-E-B-A-L-L.
Definition
- 1A forespin pitch thrown by rotating the index and middle fingers down and resulting in motion down "curve"
- 2An unexpected turn of events initiated by an opponent or chance; an exception or outlier.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how curveball appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
He bit on a curveball in the dirt.
Caglianone ripped Miles Mikolas’ curveball into the right-field corner for an RBI double that scored Salvador Perez in the fourth inning of the first game of a doubleheader against the Cardinals.
Etymology
From curve + ball.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ccurveball
- cruveball
- curevball
- currveball
- curvbeall
- curveabll
- curvebal
- curvebball
- curveblal
- curvveball
- cuvreball
- ucrveball
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of curveball - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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
How do you spell "curveball"?
What does "curveball" mean?
What are common misspellings of "curveball"?
What is the origin of the word "curveball"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "curveball", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "curveball". Here's where to go from here.
- 12 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #41,070 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.