kobold

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"kobold" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“kobold” is uncommon English (frequency #87,462 among 1,236 “K” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#87,462
frequency rank, English
1,236
“K” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An ambivalent, sometimes vindictive, spirit that is capable of materialising as an object or human, often a child; a sprite.

Corpus desk

Index EN-kobold · kobold · English

kobold · rank #87,462 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #87,462
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,236
  • PHOTO-FINISH Kodachrome

Nearest frequency peer: Kodachrome (+1 rank slots)

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.

Long-tail ranks near “kobold”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “kobold” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for kobold
PropertyValue
Headwordkobold
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters6
Frequency rank#87,462
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “kobold” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).koboldfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “Kodachrome” (#87,463), “knower” (#87,460), “Kolhapur” (#87,464). Among 1,236 “K” headwords, “kobold” is #87,462. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

kobold is uncommon English at frequency #87,462 among 1,236 “K” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

No generated misspelling entries exist for kobold in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from German Kobold. Doublet of cobalt. The correct English form is kobold, spelled K-O-B-O-L-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    An ambivalent, sometimes vindictive, spirit that is capable of materialising as an object or human, often a child; a sprite.
  2. 2
    A mischievous elf or goblin, or one connected (and helpful) to a family or household.
  3. 3
    One of a diminutive and usually malevolent race of beings, often with a reptilian or dog-like appearance.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. 1904, Andrew Lang (collector), author and translator not identified, The Mermaid and the Boy, The Brown Fairy Book, page 176, At this point a cock crew, and the youth jumped up hastily saying : 'Of course I shall ride with the king to the war, and if I do not return, take your violin every evening to the seashore and play on it, so that the very sea-kobol…
  2. Movers, in the first chapter of his Phönizier, says that that group of deities called Dactyls, Cabiri, Corybantes, and Cyclopes, were similar to those old Germanic divinities now known as Kobolds.

Etymology

Borrowed from German Kobold. Doublet of cobalt.

Synonyms

goblin

This word in other languages

diabrete(Português)

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

How do you spell "kobold"?
"kobold" is spelled K-O-B-O-L-D.
What does "kobold" mean?
As a noun, "kobold" means: An ambivalent, sometimes vindictive, spirit that is capable of materialising as an object or human, often a child; a sprite.
What is the origin of the word "kobold"?
Borrowed from German Kobold. Doublet of cobalt. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "kobold", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

knower#87,460Lapham#87,478Lettie#87,485kaizen#87,433

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list