groundworm

noun

"groundworm" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“groundworm” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - earthworm

Corpus desk

Index EN-groundworm · groundworm · English

groundworm · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 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.

Key facts for groundworm
PropertyValue
Headwordgroundworm
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “groundworm” in English

groundwormfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

groundworm is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "earthworm".

No misspelling variants are generated for groundworm in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: ground + worm The correct English form is groundworm, spelled G-R-O-U-N-D-W-O-R-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    earthworm

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how groundworm appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. They are scheming and talking, as if they belonged, like a toad or a ground-worm, to the acre on which they were born:

Etymology

ground + worm

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

How do you spell "groundworm"?
"groundworm" is spelled G-R-O-U-N-D-W-O-R-M.
What does "groundworm" mean?
As a noun, "groundworm" means: earthworm
What is the origin of the word "groundworm"?
ground + worm See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list