groundswell
"groundswell" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“groundswell” is an uncommon English word, ranked #67,489 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #67,489
- frequency rank, English
- 11
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A broad undulation of the open ocean, often as the result of a distant disturbance.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | groundswell |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #67,489 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “groundswell” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for groundswell is 11 letters long, classified as a noun. Corpus data places it at rank #67,489 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
groundswell doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From ground + swell. The correct English form is groundswell, spelled G-R-O-U-N-D-S-W-E-L-L.
Definition
- 1A broad undulation of the open ocean, often as the result of a distant disturbance.
- 2A broadly-based shifting of public opinion.
Etymology
From ground + swell.
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 “groundswell”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-R-O-U-N-D-S-W-E-L-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- 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.