pigheaded

adj

"pigheaded" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“pigheaded” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Obstinate and stubborn to the point of stupidity.

Corpus desk

Index EN-pigheaded · pigheaded · English

pigheaded · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "P" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for pigheaded
PropertyValue
Headwordpigheaded
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “pigheaded” in English

pigheadedranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

pigheaded is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Obstinate and stubborn to the point of stupidity.".

pigheaded has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English pyge heddyde, equivalent to pig + headed. The correct English form is pigheaded, spelled P-I-G-H-E-A-D-E-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Obstinate and stubborn to the point of stupidity.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. "[…]I know yeh, yeh pig-headed devil. Yeh wanta go trompin' off with a bad hurt. It ain't right—now—Tom Jamison—it ain't.

Etymology

From Middle English pyge heddyde, equivalent to pig + headed.

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "pigheaded"?
"pigheaded" is spelled P-I-G-H-E-A-D-E-D.
What does "pigheaded" mean?
As an adjective, "pigheaded" means: Obstinate and stubborn to the point of stupidity.
What is the origin of the word "pigheaded"?
From Middle English pyge heddyde, equivalent to pig + headed. 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list