meathead
/ˈmitˌhɛd/
"meathead" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“meathead” is an uncommon English word, ranked #66,083 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #66,083
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An ungainly, dull, or stupid person; someone who is lazy, disrespectful, and/or whose beliefs and philosophies clash with those of another.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | meathead |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmitˌhɛd/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #66,083 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “meathead” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for meathead is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmitˌhɛd/. Corpus data places it at rank #66,083 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No misspelling variants are generated for meathead in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From meat + head. The term meathead is often said to come from the classic 1970s television situation comedy All In The Family, wherein main character Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor) used the nickname to address his son-in-law, Michael Stivic (Rob Reiner),… The correct English form is meathead, spelled M-E-A-T-H-E-A-D.
Definition
- 1An ungainly, dull, or stupid person; someone who is lazy, disrespectful, and/or whose beliefs and philosophies clash with those of another.
- 2A large, muscular, stupid man, especially an athlete.
- 3A member of the Canadian Forces Military Police.
Etymology
From meat + head. The term meathead is often said to come from the classic 1970s television situation comedy All In The Family, wherein main character Archie Bunker (Carroll O'Connor) used the nickname to address his son-in-law, Michael Stivic (Rob Reiner), starting with the premiere episode ("Meet the Bunkers") that first aired January 12, 1971. The term was used by the character Sgt Carter on the situation comedy Gomer Pyle U.S.M.C. to refer to the title character Gomer Pyle in 1966 (season 3 episode 6). The term is also used three times in the "Star Witness" episode of the television situation comedy Green Acres, an episode that first aired January 26, 1971, exactly two weeks after the premiere of All in the Family. However, the word appeared in writing as early as 1863.
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 “meathead”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-E-A-T-H-E-A-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmitˌhɛd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.