yodel

/ˈjəʊ.dəl/

//ˈjəʊ.dəl// verb

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

"yodel" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“yodel” is uncommon English (frequency #64,142 among 366 “Y” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#64,142
frequency rank, English
366
“Y” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To sing (a song) in such a way that the voice fluctuates rapidly between the normal chest voice and falsetto.

Corpus desk

Index EN-yodel · yodel · English

yodel · rank #64,142 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #64,142
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 366
  • PHOTO-FINISH yerba

Nearest frequency peer: yerba (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “yodel”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “yodel” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for yodel
PropertyValue
Headwordyodel
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈjəʊ.dəl/
Letters5
Frequency rank#64,142
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “yodel” in English

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).yodelfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “yerba” (#64,141), “zar” (#64,143), “yeomanry” (#64,140). Among 366 “Y” headwords, “yodel” is #64,142. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

yodel is uncommon English at frequency #64,142 among 366 “Y” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈjəʊ.dəl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To sing (a song) in such a way that the voice fluctuates rapidly between the normal chest voice and falsetto.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for yodel, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From German jodeln. The correct English form is yodel, spelled Y-O-D-E-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    To sing (a song) in such a way that the voice fluctuates rapidly between the normal chest voice and falsetto.

Etymology

From German jodeln.

This word in other languages

iodler(Français)jodeln(Deutsch)

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 "yodel"?
"yodel" is spelled Y-O-D-E-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈjəʊ.dəl/.
What does "yodel" mean?
As a verb, "yodel" means: To sing (a song) in such a way that the voice fluctuates rapidly between the normal chest voice and falsetto.
How do you pronounce "yodel"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "yodel" is /ˈjəʊ.dəl/. 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 "yodel"?
From German jodeln. 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 "yodel", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

yerba#64,141Wikia#64,129weepy#64,122Weems#64,121

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list