spaz

/spæz/

//spæz// noun

"spaz" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“spaz” is uncommon English (frequency #59,720 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#59,720
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An incompetent or physically uncoordinated person; a spazmo.

Corpus desk

Index EN-spaz · spaz · English

spaz · rank #59,720 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #59,720
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH spatter

Nearest frequency peer: spatter (-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 “spaz”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for spaz
PropertyValue
Headwordspaz
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/spæz/
Letters4
Frequency rank#59,720
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “spaz” 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).spazfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “spatter” (#59,719), “speared” (#59,721), “soundstage” (#59,718). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “spaz” is #59,720. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

spaz is uncommon English at frequency #59,720 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /spæz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for spaz, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From spastic. The correct English form is spaz, spelled S-P-A-Z.

Definition

  1. 1
    An incompetent or physically uncoordinated person; a spazmo.
  2. 2
    A hyperactive, erratically behaving person.
  3. 3
    A tantrum or fit.
  4. 4
    A person with spastic paralysis, spastic cerebral palsy or epilepsy

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. In fact, it was the view of the scientists now in charge […] that the freakier they were, the better; if a mental spaz could go through and come out all right […] then the process was probably safe for the executives, politicians, and fashion models of the world.
  2. “I was so in control from tee to green, the best I’ve played for years… But as soon as I got on the green I was a spaz.”

Etymology

From spastic.

This word in other languages

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 "spaz"?
"spaz" is spelled S-P-A-Z. The IPA pronunciation is /spæz/.
What does "spaz" mean?
As a noun, "spaz" means: An incompetent or physically uncoordinated person; a spazmo.
How do you pronounce "spaz"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "spaz" is /spæz/. 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 "spaz"?
From spastic. 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 "spaz", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list