pitfall
/ˈpɪtfɔːl/
"pitfall" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pitfall” is uncommon English (frequency #51,319 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #51,319
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A potential, unsuspected, hidden problem, hazard, or danger that is easily encountered but not immediately obvious.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pitfall |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpɪtfɔːl/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #51,319 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “pitfall” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
pitfall is uncommon English at frequency #51,319 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈpɪtfɔːl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for pitfall in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: First recorded use in the 14th century from pit + fall in the sense of "pit trap, pit snare", from Old English fealle (“trap, snare”), from Proto-Germanic *fallą, *fallaz (“a fall, trap”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pōl-. Cognate with German Falle (“trap,… The correct English form is pitfall, spelled P-I-T-F-A-L-L.
Definition
- 1A potential, unsuspected, hidden problem, hazard, or danger that is easily encountered but not immediately obvious.
- 2A type of trap consisting of a concealed pit in the ground, which the victim is supposed to fall into and not be able to get out from.
- 3An antipattern.
- 4Subsidence below ground in a mine, which can cause the ground level above to drop.
Etymology
First recorded use in the 14th century from pit + fall in the sense of "pit trap, pit snare", from Old English fealle (“trap, snare”), from Proto-Germanic *fallą, *fallaz (“a fall, trap”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)pōl-. Cognate with German Falle (“trap, snare”).
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 “pitfall”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-I-T-F-A-L-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpɪtfɔːl/ (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
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.