slipway

noun

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

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

The verdict

“slipway” is uncommon English (frequency #85,786 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#85,786
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A sloping surface, leading down to the shore or to a river, on which ships are built, repaired or stored and from which they are launched.

Corpus desk

Index EN-slipway · slipway · English

slipway · rank #85,786 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #85,786
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sleepwalk

Nearest frequency peer: sleepwalk (-2 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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “slipway”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “slipway” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for slipway
PropertyValue
Headwordslipway
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters7
Frequency rank#85,786
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “slipway” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).slipway lands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

slipway is uncommon English at frequency #85,786 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for slipway in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.

Etymologically, the entry records: From slip + way. The correct English form is slipway, spelled S-L-I-P-W-A-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A sloping surface, leading down to the shore or to a river, on which ships are built, repaired or stored and from which they are launched.
  2. 2
    A slip road.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Immediately beyond the 'No entrance' sign onto the motorway slipway, turn right down the bank.
  2. Cross a motorway slipway – there are no traffic lights. Then cross a major junction. Keep the motorway on your left.

Etymology

From slip + way.

This word in other languages

dique(Español)cale(Français)Helling(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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "slipway"?
"slipway" is spelled S-L-I-P-W-A-Y.
What does "slipway" mean?
As a noun, "slipway" means: A sloping surface, leading down to the shore or to a river, on which ships are built, repaired or stored and from which they are launched.
What is the origin of the word "slipway"?
From slip + way. 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 "slipway", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

sopping#85,795sideman#85,775Shelagh#85,766shanker#85,765

What to do next

You've looked up "slipway". Here's where to go from here.

  • Usage frequency rank #85,786 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list