flub
/flʌb/
"flub" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“flub” is uncommon English (frequency #77,682 among 2,507 “F” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #77,682
- frequency rank, English
- 2,507
- “F” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An error; a mistake in the performance of an action.
Corpus desk
Index EN-flub · flub · English
flub · rank #77,682 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #77,682
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,507
- PHOTO-FINISH flunk
Nearest frequency peer: flunk (+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 “flub”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- firelight
firelight
22,323 corpus weight
- Fisker
Fisker
22,322 corpus weight
- flub
flub
22,319 corpus weight
- flunk
flunk
22,318 corpus weight
- forewing
forewing
22,316 corpus weight
- Foshan
Foshan
22,315 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “flub” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | flub |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /flʌb/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #77,682 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “flub” in English
Rare enough to double-check
flub is uncommon English at frequency #77,682 among 2,507 “F” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /flʌb/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for flub in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Possibly suggested by fluff and flop. First appeared in the US as a verb c. 1924, and as a noun c. 1953. The correct English form is flub, spelled F-L-U-B.
Definition
- 1An error; a mistake in the performance of an action.
- 2A fold of fat.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how flub appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
1962 November 6, Richard Nixon, “Gentlemen, this is my last press conference”, 2008, Rick Perlstein (editor), Richard Nixon: Speeches, Writings, Documents, page 111, I made a talk on television, a talk in which I made a flub—one of the few that I make, not because I′m so good on television but because I′ve been doing it a long time. I made a flub in which…
A flub can be a slight cinematic slip-up or a major gaffe.
Etymology
Possibly suggested by fluff and flop. First appeared in the US as a verb c. 1924, and as a noun c. 1953.
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
How do you spell "flub"?
What does "flub" mean?
How do you pronounce "flub"?
What is the origin of the word "flub"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "flub", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).