nightjar
/ˈnaɪtd͡ʒɑː/
"nightjar" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“nightjar” is an uncommon English word, ranked #92,923 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #92,923
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of various medium-sized nocturnal birds, of the family Caprimulgidae from the order Caprimulgiformes, that feed predominantly on moths and other large flying insects.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | nightjar |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈnaɪtd͡ʒɑː/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #92,923 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “nightjar” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for nightjar is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈnaɪtd͡ʒɑː/. Corpus data places it at rank #92,923 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Any of various medium-sized nocturnal birds, of the family Caprimulgidae from the order Caprimulgiformes, that feed predominantly on moths and other large flying insects.".
No misspelling variants are generated for nightjar in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From night + jar (“a discordant sound”), due to the bird's harsh call. The correct English form is nightjar, spelled N-I-G-H-T-J-A-R.
Definition
- 1Any of various medium-sized nocturnal birds, of the family Caprimulgidae from the order Caprimulgiformes, that feed predominantly on moths and other large flying insects.
Etymology
From night + jar (“a discordant sound”), due to the bird's harsh call.
This word in other languages
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.
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Using “nightjar”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is N-I-G-H-T-J-A-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈnaɪtd͡ʒɑː/ (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.