graupel
/ˈɡɹaʊp(ə)l/
"graupel" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“graupel” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A precipitation that forms when supercooled droplets of water condense on a snowflake.
Corpus desk
Index EN-graupel · graupel · English
graupel · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "G" 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 | graupel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɡɹaʊp(ə)l/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “graupel” in English
Rare enough to double-check
graupel is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɡɹaʊp(ə)l/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
graupel doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from German Graupel(wetter) (literally “graupel (weather)”). Graupel is a back-formation from graupeln (“to hail (with soft hailstones)”) + -el (diminutive suffix); and graupeln is from Graupe (“hulled grain, pearl barley”) (ultimately from Proto-S… The correct English form is graupel, spelled G-R-A-U-P-E-L.
Definition
- 1A precipitation that forms when supercooled droplets of water condense on a snowflake.
- 2A small ball of rime resulting from this process.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how graupel appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Is it desirable in giving the falls of hail to draw a distinction between "graupel" and true hail?
November.— […] Smart shower of graupel (i.e. frozen snow in pellets), with snow at 9 p.m. on 10th.
Etymology
Borrowed from German Graupel(wetter) (literally “graupel (weather)”). Graupel is a back-formation from graupeln (“to hail (with soft hailstones)”) + -el (diminutive suffix); and graupeln is from Graupe (“hulled grain, pearl barley”) (ultimately from Proto-Slavic *krūpà (“grainy substance; groats; hail”) and Proto-Indo-European *krewp-) + -eln (suffix forming verbs, often with a diminutive or frequentative sense).
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.