pothole

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"pothole" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“pothole” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #41,316. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#41,316
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A shallow pit or other edged depression in a road's surface, especially when caused by erosion by weather or traffic.

Corpus desk

Index EN-pothole · pothole · English

pothole · rank #41,316 · 10 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #41,316
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH postmodernism

Nearest frequency peer: postmodernism (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “pothole”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

pothole vs Poole
57% similar
pothole vs potable
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for pothole
PropertyValue
Headwordpothole
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters7
Frequency rank#41,316
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “pothole”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).potholelands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “postmodernism” (#41,315), “potting” (#41,317), “postgame” (#41,314). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “pothole” is #41,316. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around pothole, anoun. Corpus frequency is #41,316 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for pothole, with forms such as "opthole", "pohtole", and "pothhole". 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. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "Poole", "potable", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From dialectal pot (“pit, hollow, cavity”) + hole. The "cave" senses, attested since at least 1809 (as pot-hole), may be from Middle English pot, potte (“a deep hole for a mine, or from peat-digging”), of uncertain origin; perhaps related to English pit, po… The correct English form is pothole, spelled P-O-T-H-O-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A shallow pit or other edged depression in a road's surface, especially when caused by erosion by weather or traffic.
  2. 2
    A pit formed in the bed of a turbulent stream.
  3. 3
    A vertical cave system, often found in limestone.
  4. 4
    A pit resulting from unauthorized excavation by treasure-hunters or vandals.
  5. 5
    A shallow hole dug for the purpose of prospecting for opal or gold.
  6. 6
    A hyperlink with text displayed on a page that is different from the title of the page to which the text links; a piped link.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. I was so tired that potholes, fumes and noise aside, I slept regardless, my head rag-dolling from side to side.
  2. Labour's Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh said: "There is a cost-of-living crisis, and the Prime Minister blew nearly £1m of public money on an utterly infeasible vanity project. That's enough to fill 18,000 potholes. This shows the Tories' sheer disrespect for public money."

Etymology

From dialectal pot (“pit, hollow, cavity”) + hole. The "cave" senses, attested since at least 1809 (as pot-hole), may be from Middle English pot, potte (“a deep hole for a mine, or from peat-digging”), of uncertain origin; perhaps related to English pit, pote, or pot. Compare Scots pott, patt (“a pit dug in the ground; coalpit”).

Synonyms

giant kettle

This word in other languages

bache(Español)nid de poule(Français)Schlagloch(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • opthole
  • pohtole
  • pothhole
  • pothloe
  • pothoel
  • potholle
  • potohle
  • potthole
  • ppothole
  • ptohole

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

opthole2pohtole2pothhole1pothloe2pothoel2potholle1potohle2potthole1
Edit distance from "pothole"

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 "pothole"?
"pothole" is spelled P-O-T-H-O-L-E.
What does "pothole" mean?
As a noun, "pothole" means: A shallow pit or other edged depression in a road's surface, especially when caused by erosion by weather or traffic.
What words are commonly confused with "pothole"?
"pothole" is commonly confused with "Poole", "potable". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What is the origin of the word "pothole"?
From dialectal pot (“pit, hollow, cavity”) + hole. The "cave" senses, attested since at least 1809 (as pot-hole), may be from Middle English pot, potte (“a deep hole for a mine, or from peat-digging”), of uncertain origin; perhaps related to Engli... 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 "pothole", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

potting#41,317placard#41,311Paulsen#41,303Parvati#41,301

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

rabbinic10 variantsRubicon10 variantsMontagu10 variantssequins10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list