swordplay
"swordplay" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“swordplay” is uncommon English (frequency #79,106 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #79,106
- frequency rank, English
- 54,294
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - fighting with a sword
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | swordplay |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #79,106 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “swordplay” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
swordplay is uncommon English at frequency #79,106 among 54,294 “S” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "fighting with a sword".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for swordplay, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Old English sweordplega. By surface analysis, sword + play. The correct English form is swordplay, spelled S-W-O-R-D-P-L-A-Y.
Definition
- 1fighting with a sword
Etymology
Inherited from Old English sweordplega. By surface analysis, sword + play.
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
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Using “swordplay”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-W-O-R-D-P-L-A-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.