lowball

adj

"lowball" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“lowball” is uncommon English (frequency #82,501 among 2,297 “L” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#82,501
frequency rank, English
2,297
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Significantly below the actual cost or value.

Corpus desk

Index EN-lowball · lowball · English

lowball · rank #82,501 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #82,501
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,297
  • PHOTO-FINISH loth

Nearest frequency peer: loth (-2 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 “lowball”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for lowball
PropertyValue
Headwordlowball
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters7
Frequency rank#82,501
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “lowball” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).lowballfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “loth” (#82,499), “lordly” (#82,498), “Looe” (#82,497). Among 2,297 “L” headwords, “lowball” is #82,501. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

lowball is uncommon English at frequency #82,501 among 2,297 “L” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Significantly below the actual cost or value.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for lowball, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: American railroad term that described one of two positions of the ball of a ball signal. Compare highball. The correct English form is lowball, spelled L-O-W-B-A-L-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Significantly below the actual cost or value.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. In April, NASA selected SpaceX to build the lunar lander for the Artemis program, thanks in part to a lowball $2.9 billion bid.
  2. At the meeting last Wednesday during which these changes were announced, the interim head of the NEH also estimated that each of the 250 statues would cost $100,000 to $200,000, bringing the total cost as high as $50 million. And this may have been a lowball figure.

Etymology

American railroad term that described one of two positions of the ball of a ball signal. Compare highball.

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 "lowball"?
"lowball" is spelled L-O-W-B-A-L-L.
What does "lowball" mean?
As an adjective, "lowball" means: Significantly below the actual cost or value.
What is the origin of the word "lowball"?
American railroad term that described one of two positions of the ball of a ball signal. Compare highball. 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 "lowball", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list