vindaloo
/vɪndəˈluː/
"vindaloo" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“vindaloo” is uncommon English (frequency #95,584 among 969 “V” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #95,584
- frequency rank, English
- 969
- “V” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - A blend of chilis, tamarind, ginger, cumin, and mustard seeds, originally from Goa.
Corpus desk
Index EN-vindaloo · vindaloo · English
vindaloo · rank #95,584 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #95,584
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 969
- PHOTO-FINISH vinyasa
Nearest frequency peer: vinyasa (+2 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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “vindaloo”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- vend
vend
4,425 corpus weight
- victuals
victuals
4,420 corpus weight
- vindaloo
vindaloo
4,417 corpus weight
- vinyasa
vinyasa
4,415 corpus weight
- viscoelastic
viscoelastic
4,414 corpus weight
- voile
voile
4,412 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “vindaloo” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | vindaloo |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /vɪndəˈluː/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #95,584 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “vindaloo” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
vindaloo is uncommon English at frequency #95,584 among 969 “V” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /vɪndəˈluː/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for vindaloo, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Konkani विंदालू (vindālū), from Portuguese vin-d’alho (“wine and garlic sauce”), from vinho (“wine”) + alho (“garlic”). Not related to English aloo, from Hindi आलू (ālū), but by confusion with this term the dish is often based on potatoes. The correct English form is vindaloo, spelled V-I-N-D-A-L-O-O.
Definition
- 1A blend of chilis, tamarind, ginger, cumin, and mustard seeds, originally from Goa.
- 2A hot curry made with this spice.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how vindaloo appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Gerry ordered poppadoms and parathas and then he was interrupted by requests for vindaloos, chicken madrases and sag joshes, rice, raita and nan, from Priest, Morgan and Maria Grazia.
Etymology
From Konkani विंदालू (vindālū), from Portuguese vin-d’alho (“wine and garlic sauce”), from vinho (“wine”) + alho (“garlic”). Not related to English aloo, from Hindi आलू (ālū), but by confusion with this term the dish is often based on potatoes.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "vindaloo", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency 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.