curveball
noun, verb
curveball is spelled C-U-R-V-E-B-A-L-L: 9 letters. It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 41,154th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, curveball means “A forespin pitch thrown by rotating the index and middle fingers down and resulting in motion down "curve"” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of curveball is curveballs.
How many letters and syllables are in curveball?
| Letters | 9: C-U-R-V-E-B-A-L-L |
|---|---|
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 41,154th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is curveball?
Curveball appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 41,154th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Forms of curveball
- curveballs plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- curveballing participle, present
- curveballed participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does curveball mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A forespin pitch thrown by rotating the index and middle fingers down and resulting in motion down "curve"
He bit on a curveball in the dirt.
- 2
USAn unexpected turn of events initiated by an opponent or chance; an exception or outlier.
Life has thrown him a few curveballs.
verb
- 1
To throw a curveball.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Curveball in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | balle courbe |
| German | Curveball |
| Portuguese | bola curva |
| Spanish | bola curva, ajuaishte , algo inesperado, algo no anticipado |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does curveball come from?
From curve + ball.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).