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 uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 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.

Corpus desk

Index EN-yellow-card · yellow card · English

yellow card · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "Y" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

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

Long-tail rank of “yellow card” in English

yellow cardfalls 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.

Rare enough to double-check

yellow card is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈjɛl.əʊ ˌkɑːd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 6 senses are on record.

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.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how yellow card appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Some large modern dance companies, most large ballet companies, and most large theater companies also require union crews. These are called yellow card companies.
  2. Each local union has a separate number; New York was the first so they are Local One. Chicago is Local Two. A yellow card (they have been printed on yellow cardstock since time began) is sent out telling how many hands will be required in in each department for the load-in, load-out, and for the run of the show.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list