uvula
/ˈjuː.vjʊl.ə/
"uvula" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“uvula” is uncommon English (frequency #97,676 among 23,789 “U” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #97,676
- frequency rank, English
- 23,789
- “U” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Ellipsis of palatine uvula, the fleshy appendage that hangs from the back of the soft palate, that closes the nasopharynx during swallowing.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | uvula |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈjuː.vjʊl.ə/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #97,676 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “uvula” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
uvula is uncommon English at frequency #97,676 among 23,789 “U” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈjuː.vjʊl.ə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for uvula in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Late Latin ūvula, diminutive of ūva (“grape”). The correct English form is uvula, spelled U-V-U-L-A.
Definition
- 1Ellipsis of palatine uvula, the fleshy appendage that hangs from the back of the soft palate, that closes the nasopharynx during swallowing.
- 2the slight elevation in the mucous membrane immediately behind the internal urethral orifice of the urinary bladder, caused by the middle lobe of the prostate
- 3an object so suspended inside a bell that it may hit the bell and cause it to ring; a clapper
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin ūvula, diminutive of ūva (“grape”).
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 “uvula”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is U-V-U-L-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈjuː.vjʊl.ə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.