ribald

/ˈɹɪb.əld/

//ˈɹɪb.əld// adj

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

"ribald" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“ribald” is uncommon English (frequency #86,701 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#86,701
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Coarsely, vulgarly, or lewdly amusing; referring to sexual matters in a rude or irreverent way.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ribald · ribald · English

ribald · rank #86,701 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #86,701
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH rhum

Nearest frequency peer: rhum (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “ribald”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “ribald” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for ribald
PropertyValue
Headwordribald
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈɹɪb.əld/
Letters6
Frequency rank#86,701
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “ribald” in English

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).ribaldfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “rhum” (#86,700), “Rhianna” (#86,699), “rioter” (#86,703). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “ribald” is #86,701. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ribald is uncommon English at frequency #86,701 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈɹɪb.əld/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Coarsely, vulgarly, or lewdly amusing; referring to sexual matters in a rude or irreverent way.".

ribald doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English ribald, from Old French ribaud, ribauld (“rogue, scoundrel”) ( > English ribaud), from Old French riber (“to be licentious”), from Frankish *rīban (“to copulate, be in heat”, literally “to rub”), from Proto-Germanic *wrībaną (“to turn, t… The correct English form is ribald, spelled R-I-B-A-L-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Coarsely, vulgarly, or lewdly amusing; referring to sexual matters in a rude or irreverent way.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. [L]et no zealous Christian trust the rogue,—the filthy ribald rascal is a liar.
  2. But when he died the "Reform Democracy" instinctively returned to its vomit of ribald insult.

Etymology

From Middle English ribald, from Old French ribaud, ribauld (“rogue, scoundrel”) ( > English ribaud), from Old French riber (“to be licentious”), from Frankish *rīban (“to copulate, be in heat”, literally “to rub”), from Proto-Germanic *wrībaną (“to turn, twist, writhe”), from Proto-Indo-European *werp-, *werb- (“to turn, twist”) + Old French -aud, from Frankish *-wald. Related to Old High German rīban (“to rub”), German reiben (“to rub”), Dutch wrijven (“to rub”). Compare also Old High German hrība (“prostitute”). See also English wrap.

This word in other languages

obsceno(Español)grossier(Français)frivol(Deutsch)

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 "ribald"?
"ribald" is spelled R-I-B-A-L-D. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɹɪb.əld/.
What does "ribald" mean?
As an adjective, "ribald" means: Coarsely, vulgarly, or lewdly amusing; referring to sexual matters in a rude or irreverent way.
How do you pronounce "ribald"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ribald" is /ˈɹɪb.əld/. 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 "ribald"?
From Middle English ribald, from Old French ribaud, ribauld (“rogue, scoundrel”) ( > English ribaud), from Old French riber (“to be licentious”), from Frankish *rīban (“to copulate, be in heat”, literally “to rub”), from Proto-Germanic *wrībaną (“... 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 "ribald", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

rioter#86,703reword#86,695Sadako#86,715sambar#86,717

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list