nakba
/ˈnɑːkbə/
"nakba" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“nakba” is uncommon English (frequency #87,597 among 1,534 “N” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #87,597
- frequency rank, English
- 1,534
- “N” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - In Arab contexts: a catastrophe; a grave setback.
Corpus desk
Index EN-nakba · nakba · English
nakba · rank #87,597 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #87,597
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,534
- PHOTO-FINISH Nangarhar
Nearest frequency peer: Nangarhar (+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 “nakba”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Naha
Naha
12,407 corpus weight
- nakba
nakba
12,404 corpus weight
- Nangarhar
Nangarhar
12,403 corpus weight
- naphthalene
naphthalene
12,402 corpus weight
- nard
nard
12,401 corpus weight
- nematic
nematic
12,399 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “nakba” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | nakba |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈnɑːkbə/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #87,597 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “nakba” in English
Rare enough to double-check
nakba is uncommon English at frequency #87,597 among 1,534 “N” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈnɑːkbə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "In Arab contexts: a catastrophe; a grave setback.".
nakba has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Arabic نَكْبَة (nakba, “disaster, catastrophe”); see further at Nakba. The correct English form is nakba, spelled N-A-K-B-A.
Definition
- 1In Arab contexts: a catastrophe; a grave setback.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how nakba appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Our President is admitting that the war has been a nakba, a setback. 'I take full personal responsibility.' 'But not for long,' murmurs Mahmoud, in whose company I am watching this ultra-dramatic moment.
A second nakba happened after the 1967 Six Day War, when Israel captured Arab land that belonged to Jordan and Egypt; another 325,000 Palestinians left their homes.
Etymology
Borrowed from Arabic نَكْبَة (nakba, “disaster, catastrophe”); see further at Nakba.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "nakba", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).