obstacle

Name: obstacle, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˈɒbstəkəl/

//ˈɒbstəkəl// noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“obstacle” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #10,897. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#10,897
frequency rank, English: 1,431
“O” headwords: 12
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Something that impedes, stands in the way of, or holds up progress, either physically or figuratively

Corpus desk

Index EN-obstacle · obstacle · English

obstacle · rank #10,897 · 12 variants · 0 confusables

FREQ-MID #10,897
LEN-LONG 8 letters
VOW-3 3 vowels
CONFUS-0 No pairs
VAR-MID 12 variants
BOOK-MID 1,431
PHOTO-FINISH occupational

Nearest frequency peer: occupational (+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.

natives

89,107
Nottingham

89,106
obstacle

89,104
occupational

89,103
OG

89,102
onset

89,101

What this shows “obstacle” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Key facts for obstacle
Property	Value
Headword	obstacle
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/ˈɒbstəkəl/
Letters	8
Frequency rank	#10,897
Misspellings tracked	12
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “obstacle”

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).obstaclelands here:

#10,897

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “occupational” (#10,898), “Nottingham” (#10,895), “OG” (#10,899). Among 1,431 “O” headwords, “obstacle” is #10,897. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around obstacle (IPA /ˈɒbstəkəl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #10,897 among 1,431 “O” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Something that impedes, stands in the way of, or holds up progress, either physically or figuratively".

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for obstacle, with forms such as "bostacle", "obbstacle", and "obsatcle". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English obstacle, from Old French obstacle, from Latin obstāculum. The correct English form is obstacle, spelled O-B-S-T-A-C-L-E.

Definition

1
Something that impedes, stands in the way of, or holds up progress, either physically or figuratively

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

A big obstacle to understanding the manual was that it had been poorly translated from the Japanese.

Etymology

From Middle English obstacle, from Old French obstacle, from Latin obstāculum.

Synonyms

impediment hindrance hurdle barrier complication snag

This word in other languages

obstáculo(Español)obstacle(Français)Hindernis(Deutsch)obstáculo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

bostacle
obbstacle
obsatcle
obsstacle
obstaccle
obstacel
obstaclle
obstalce
obstcale
obsttacle
obtsacle
osbtacle

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of obstacle - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

Edit distance from "obstacle"

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 "obstacle"?

"obstacle" is spelled O-B-S-T-A-C-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɒbstəkəl/.

What does "obstacle" mean?

As a noun, "obstacle" means: Something that impedes, stands in the way of, or holds up progress, either physically or figuratively

What are common misspellings of "obstacle"?

Common misspellings include "bostacle", "obbstacle", "obsatcle", "obsstacle", "obstaccle". The correct spelling is "obstacle".

How do you pronounce "obstacle"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "obstacle" is /ˈɒbstəkəl/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What is the origin of the word "obstacle"?

From Middle English obstacle, from Old French obstacle, from Latin obstāculum. 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 "obstacle", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

perceive#10,903 lecturer#10,881 Lebanese#10,880 insecure#10,871

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

miniature12 variants insanity12 variants Salvador12 variants specimen12 variants