drabble
/ˈdɹæbəl/
"drabble" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“drabble” is uncommon English (frequency #81,280 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #81,280
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To wet or dirty, especially by dragging through mud.
Corpus desk
Index EN-drabble · drabble · English
drabble · rank #81,280 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #81,280
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH drafty
Nearest frequency peer: drafty (+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 “drabble”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- doggone
doggone
18,724 corpus weight
- donat
donat
18,723 corpus weight
- drabble
drabble
18,721 corpus weight
- drafty
drafty
18,720 corpus weight
- dressmaking
dressmaking
18,718 corpus weight
- Dujardin
Dujardin
18,717 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “drabble” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | drabble |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈdɹæbəl/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #81,280 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “drabble” in English
Rare enough to double-check
drabble is uncommon English at frequency #81,280 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈdɹæbəl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
drabble doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English drabelan. The correct English form is drabble, spelled D-R-A-B-B-L-E.
Definition
- 1To wet or dirty, especially by dragging through mud.
- 2To fish with a long line and rod.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how drabble appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
That which eſpecialleſt nouriſht the moſt prime pleaſure in me, was after a ſtorme when they were driuen inſwarmes, and lay close peſtred together as thicke as they could packe; the next day following, if it were faire, they would cloud the whole skie with canuas, by ſpreading their drabled ſailes in the full clue abroad a drying, and make a brauer ſhew w…
to drabble for barbels
Etymology
From Middle English drabelan.
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 "drabble", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).