playbill
/ˈpleɪˌbɪl/
"playbill" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“playbill” is an uncommon English word, ranked #85,653 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #85,653
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A poster advertising a theatrical performance.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | playbill |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpleɪˌbɪl/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #85,653 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “playbill” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for playbill is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpleɪˌbɪl/. Corpus data places it at rank #85,653 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Zero misspellings are on record for playbill in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From play + bill. The correct English form is playbill, spelled P-L-A-Y-B-I-L-L.
Definition
- 1A poster advertising a theatrical performance.
- 2A program/programme/pamphlet for a theatrical performance.
Etymology
From play + bill.
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
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Using “playbill”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-L-A-Y-B-I-L-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpleɪˌbɪl/ (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.