goalpost
/ˈɡəʊlpəʊst/
"goalpost" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“goalpost” is an uncommon English word, ranked #69,893 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #69,893
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - One of the two vertical side poles of a goal.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | goalpost |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡəʊlpəʊst/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #69,893 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “goalpost” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for goalpost is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɡəʊlpəʊst/. Corpus data places it at rank #69,893 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
goalpost doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From goal + post. The correct English form is goalpost, spelled G-O-A-L-P-O-S-T.
Definition
- 1One of the two vertical side poles of a goal.
- 2The tall Y-shaped upright, now usually of fiberglass, at either end of the playing field, through which a football must go in order for a field goal to be scored. (They were originally H-shaped, with one wooden post on either side.)
- 3A rule or target that is "moved" (changed) unfairly; see move the goalposts.
Etymology
From goal + post.
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
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Using “goalpost”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-O-A-L-P-O-S-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɡəʊlpəʊst/ (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.