focal point
/ˈfoʊkəl ˌpɔɪnt/
"focal-point" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“focal point” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A focus; a point at which rays of light or other radiation converge.
Corpus desk
Index EN-focal-point · focal point · English
focal point · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "F" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | focal point |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfoʊkəl ˌpɔɪnt/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “focal point” in English
Rare enough to double-check
focal point is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈfoʊkəl ˌpɔɪnt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for focal point in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is focal point, spelled F-O-C-A-L- -P-O-I-N-T.
Definition
- 1A focus; a point at which rays of light or other radiation converge.
- 2The centre of any activity.
- 3A feature that attracts particular attention.
- 4A solution that people will tend to use in the absence of communication, because it seems natural, special, or relevant.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how focal point appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Swansea's attack lacked its focal point with top scorer Fernando Llorente injured, while Boro seldom looked like scoring their first away league goal of 2017.
Throughout the 1500s, the populace roiled over a constellation of grievances of which the forest emerged as a key focal point. The popular late Middle Ages fictional character Robin Hood, dressed in green to symbolize the forest, dodged fines for forest offenses and stole from the rich to give to the poor. But his appeal was painfully real and embodied th…
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.