yellow card

/ˈjɛl.əʊ ˌkɑːd/

//ˈjɛl.əʊ ˌkɑːd// noun

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

The verdict

“yellow card” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - a yellow-coloured card, shown to a player (especially in association football) as a caution that he or she has committed a flagrant foul; a further such foul would result in a red card.

Key facts for yellow card
PropertyValue
Headwordyellow card
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈjɛl.əʊ ˌkɑːd/
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “yellow card” sits in English frequency

yellow card falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for yellow card is 11 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈjɛl.əʊ ˌkɑːd/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

yellow card doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is yellow card, spelled Y-E-L-L-O-W- -C-A-R-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    a yellow-coloured card, shown to a player (especially in association football) as a caution that he or she has committed a flagrant foul; a further such foul would result in a red card.
  2. 2
    one of various yellow-colored cards used to verify the healthiness, vaccination status or other medical info of travelers.
  3. 3
    a form to record safety concerns and adverse reactions to medicinal drugs.
  4. 4
    A card sent out by a travelling dance or theatre company to request temporary personnel from a local labor union.
  5. 5
    A yellow ticket.
  6. 6
    a card given to British Army personnel during The Troubles.

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "yellow card"?
"yellow card" is spelled Y-E-L-L-O-W- -C-A-R-D. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈjɛl.əʊ ˌkɑːd/.
What does "yellow card" mean?
As a noun, "yellow card" means: a yellow-coloured card, shown to a player (especially in association football) as a caution that he or she has committed a flagrant foul; a further such foul would result in a red card.
How do you pronounce "yellow card"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "yellow card" is /ˈjɛl.əʊ ˌkɑːd/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "yellow card" come from?
"yellow card" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

Using “yellow card”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is Y-E-L-L-O-W- -C-A-R-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈjɛl.əʊ ˌkɑːd/ (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
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list