volleyball

/ˈvɒlibɔ(ː)l/

//ˈvɒlibɔ(ː)l// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"volleyball" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“volleyball” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #9,005. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,005
frequency rank, English
969
“V” headwords
12
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A game played on a rectangular court between two teams of two to six players which involves striking a ball back and forth over a net.

Corpus desk

Index EN-volleyball · volleyball · English

volleyball · rank #9,005 · 12 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,005
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 969
  • PHOTO-FINISH Vietnamese

Nearest frequency peer: Vietnamese (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “volleyball”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “volleyball” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for volleyball
PropertyValue
Headwordvolleyball
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈvɒlibɔ(ː)l/
Letters10
Frequency rank#9,005
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “volleyball”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).volleyballlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Vietnamese” (#9,004), “Walsh” (#9,006), “utter” (#9,003). Among 969 “V” headwords, “volleyball” is #9,005. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around volleyball (IPA /ˈvɒlibɔ(ː)l/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #9,005 among 969 “V” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for volleyball, with forms such as "ovlleyball", "vloleyball", and "volelyball". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From volley + ball. In 1895, in Holyoke, Massachusetts, William G. Morgan created a new game called Mintonette, a name derived from the game of badminton. After an observer, Alfred Halstead, noticed the volleying nature of the game at its first exhibition m… The correct English form is volleyball, spelled V-O-L-L-E-Y-B-A-L-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    A game played on a rectangular court between two teams of two to six players which involves striking a ball back and forth over a net.
  2. 2
    The inflated ball used in such a game.

Etymology

From volley + ball. In 1895, in Holyoke, Massachusetts, William G. Morgan created a new game called Mintonette, a name derived from the game of badminton. After an observer, Alfred Halstead, noticed the volleying nature of the game at its first exhibition match in 1896, played at the International YMCA Training School (now called Springfield College), the game quickly became known as volleyball (it was originally spelled as two words: "volley ball")

This word in other languages

voleibol(Español)volley-ball(Français)Volleyball(Deutsch)voleibol(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ovlleyball
  • vloleyball
  • volelyball
  • voleyball
  • vollebyall
  • volleyabll
  • volleybal
  • volleybball
  • volleyblal
  • volleyyball
  • vollyeball
  • vvolleyball

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of volleyball - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

ovlleyball2vloleyball2volelyball2voleyball1vollebyall2volleyabll2volleybal1volleybball1
Edit distance from "volleyball"

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 "volleyball"?
"volleyball" is spelled V-O-L-L-E-Y-B-A-L-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈvɒlibɔ(ː)l/.
What does "volleyball" mean?
As a noun, "volleyball" means: A game played on a rectangular court between two teams of two to six players which involves striking a ball back and forth over a net.
What are common misspellings of "volleyball"?
Common misspellings include "ovlleyball", "vloleyball", "volelyball", "voleyball", "vollebyall". The correct spelling is "volleyball".
How do you pronounce "volleyball"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "volleyball" is /ˈvɒlibɔ(ː)l/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "volleyball"?
From volley + ball. In 1895, in Holyoke, Massachusetts, William G. Morgan created a new game called Mintonette, a name derived from the game of badminton. After an observer, Alfred Halstead, noticed the volleying nature of the game at its first ex... 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 "volleyball", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Vietnamese#9,004undertaken#9,001successive#8,990stretching#8,989

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

recession12 variantsdisclose12 variantsrailways12 variantsPeterson12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list