spinnaker

/ˈspɪnəkə/

//ˈspɪnəkə// noun

"spinnaker" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“spinnaker” is uncommon English (frequency #70,283 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#70,283
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A sail supplemental to the mainsail, especially a triangular one, used on yachts for running before the wind.

Corpus desk

Index EN-spinnaker · spinnaker · English

spinnaker · rank #70,283 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #70,283
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH spink

Nearest frequency peer: spink (-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 “spinnaker”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for spinnaker
PropertyValue
Headwordspinnaker
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈspɪnəkə/
Letters9
Frequency rank#70,283
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “spinnaker” in English

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

#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. Rare peers in the same band: “spink” (#70,282), “Spivak” (#70,284), “sphagnum” (#70,281). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “spinnaker” is #70,283. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

spinnaker is uncommon English at frequency #70,283 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈspɪnəkə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A sail supplemental to the mainsail, especially a triangular one, used on yachts for running before the wind.".

Zero misspellings are on record for spinnaker in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is spinnaker, spelled S-P-I-N-N-A-K-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A sail supplemental to the mainsail, especially a triangular one, used on yachts for running before the wind.

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 "spinnaker"?
"spinnaker" is spelled S-P-I-N-N-A-K-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈspɪnəkə/.
What does "spinnaker" mean?
As a noun, "spinnaker" means: A sail supplemental to the mainsail, especially a triangular one, used on yachts for running before the wind.
How do you pronounce "spinnaker"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "spinnaker" is /ˈspɪnəkə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "spinnaker" come from?
"spinnaker" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 "spinnaker", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list