funny bone
/ˈfʌn.i boʊn/
"funny-bone" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“funny bone” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The ulnar nerve in the elbow, which, when hit, causes a tingling sensation.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | funny bone |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfʌn.i boʊn/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “funny bone” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for funny bone is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfʌn.i boʊn/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
funny bone has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is funny bone, spelled F-U-N-N-Y- -B-O-N-E.
Definition
- 1The ulnar nerve in the elbow, which, when hit, causes a tingling sensation.
- 2Nickname for the humerus, so named because of its being homophonic with "humorous".
- 3One's sense of humor.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “funny bone”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-U-N-N-Y- -B-O-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈfʌn.i boʊn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.