stoplight

noun

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

The verdict

“stoplight” is uncommon English (frequency #64,741 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#64,741
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A traffic control signal, traditionally consisting of three lights, colored green, yellow/amber, and red, meaning proceed, prepare to stop, and stop, respectively.

Corpus desk

Index EN-stoplight · stoplight · English

stoplight · rank #64,741 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #64,741
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH stereotypical…

Nearest frequency peer: stereotypically (-3 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 “stoplight”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for stoplight
PropertyValue
Headwordstoplight
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters9
Frequency rank#64,741
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “stoplight” in English

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).stoplightfalls 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: “stereotypically” (#64,738), “Stauffer” (#64,737), “Starke” (#64,735). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “stoplight” is #64,741. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

stoplight is uncommon English at frequency #64,741 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for stoplight, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From stop + light. The correct English form is stoplight, spelled S-T-O-P-L-I-G-H-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A traffic control signal, traditionally consisting of three lights, colored green, yellow/amber, and red, meaning proceed, prepare to stop, and stop, respectively.
  2. 2
    A light on the rear of a vehicle that is activated when braking; a brake light.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. The rear lamps are combined with the service stoplights and are contained in stoplight part and blackout marker light assemblies at the rear of the vehicle.

Etymology

From stop + light.

Synonyms

traffic lighttraffic signalrobot

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 "stoplight"?
"stoplight" is spelled S-T-O-P-L-I-G-H-T.
What does "stoplight" mean?
As a noun, "stoplight" means: A traffic control signal, traditionally consisting of three lights, colored green, yellow/amber, and red, meaning proceed, prepare to stop, and stop, respectively.
What is the origin of the word "stoplight"?
From stop + light. 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 "stoplight", 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