nolo

adj

"nolo" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“nolo” is uncommon English (frequency #89,683 among 1,534 “N” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#89,683
frequency rank, English
1,534
“N” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Having no or low alcohol content; being low-alcohol or alcohol-free

Corpus desk

Index EN-nolo · nolo · English

nolo · rank #89,683 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #89,683
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,534
  • PHOTO-FINISH nonalcoholic

Nearest frequency peer: nonalcoholic (+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 “nolo”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for nolo
PropertyValue
Headwordnolo
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters4
Frequency rank#89,683
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “nolo” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).nolofalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “nonalcoholic” (#89,684), “noncommissioned” (#89,686), “nias” (#89,679). Among 1,534 “N” headwords, “nolo” is #89,683. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

nolo is uncommon English at frequency #89,683 among 1,534 “N” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Having no or low alcohol content; being low-alcohol or alcohol-free".

No misspelling variants are generated for nolo in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Ellipsis of no alcohol, low alcohol. The correct English form is nolo, spelled N-O-L-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    Having no or low alcohol content; being low-alcohol or alcohol-free

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. NoLo (no alcohol, low alcohol) is one of the hottest trends in the drinks industry.
  2. The UK drinks industry has embarked on a detox that extends beyond January with companies racing to bring out “nolo” (no- or low-alcohol) beers, spirits and cocktails to satisfy a thirst for hangover-free drinking.

Etymology

Ellipsis of no alcohol, low alcohol.

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 "nolo"?
"nolo" is spelled N-O-L-O.
What does "nolo" mean?
As an adjective, "nolo" means: Having no or low alcohol content; being low-alcohol or alcohol-free
What is the origin of the word "nolo"?
Ellipsis of no alcohol, low alcohol. 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 "nolo", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list