rundown

Name: rundown, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“rundown” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #23,662. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#23,662
frequency rank, English: 3,094
“R” headwords: 11
tracked misspellings: 1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A rough outline of a topic or situation.

Corpus desk

Index EN-rundown · rundown · English

rundown · rank #23,662 · 11 variants · 1 confusable

FREQ-MID #23,662
LEN-LONG 7 letters
VOW-2 2 vowels
CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
VAR-MID 11 variants
BOOK-MID 3,094
PHOTO-FINISH rosary

Nearest frequency peer: rosary (-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.

Roberta

76,342
Rockford

76,341
rosary

76,340
rundown

76,339
ruse

76,337
Salvatore

76,336

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

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

rundown vs renown

71% similar

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

Key facts for rundown
Property	Value
Headword	rundown
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
Letters	7
Frequency rank	#23,662
Misspellings tracked	11
Confusable pairs	1
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “rundown”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).rundownlands here:

#23,662

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “rosary” (#23,661), “Rockford” (#23,660), “ruse” (#23,664). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “rundown” is #23,662. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around rundown, anoun. Corpus frequency is #23,662 among 3,094 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for rundown, with forms such as "rnudown", "rrundown", and "rudnown". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "renown", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Deverbal from run down. The correct English form is rundown, spelled R-U-N-D-O-W-N.

Definition

1
A rough outline of a topic or situation.
2
A summary of the horses to be raced on a particular day, with their weights, jockeys, odds, etc.
3
A defensive play in which the runner is caught between two fielders, who steadily converge to tag the runner out.
4
A Caribbean stew of meat or fish (typically mackerel) with reduced coconut milk, yam, tomato, onion and seasonings.
5
A reduction, e.g. of an activity, or in the size of something, such as a fleet.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

Could you give me the rundown on the new rules?
Comes post-time, and I am at the bookie joint listening the running descriptions and rundowns, […]

Etymology

Deverbal from run down.

This word in other languages

detalles(Español)topo(Français)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

rnudown
rrundown
rudnown
runddown
rundonw
rundownn
rundowwn
rundwon
runndown
runodwn
urndown

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of rundown - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

Edit distance from "rundown"

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 "rundown"?

"rundown" is spelled R-U-N-D-O-W-N.

What does "rundown" mean?

As a noun, "rundown" means: A rough outline of a topic or situation.

What words are commonly confused with "rundown"?

"rundown" is commonly confused with "renown". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

What is the origin of the word "rundown"?

Deverbal from run down. 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 "rundown", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Roberta#23,659 roadmap#23,658 Sampson#23,666 snowman#23,679

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

politico11 variants overtly11 variants tropics11 variants Mussolini11 variants