zilch
/zɪlt͡ʃ/
"zilch" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“zilch” is uncommon English (frequency #55,202 among 265 “Z” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #55,202
- frequency rank, English
- 265
- “Z” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A nobody: a person who is worthless in importance or character.
Corpus desk
Index EN-zilch · zilch · English
zilch · rank #55,202 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #55,202
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 265
- PHOTO-FINISH Yoder
Nearest frequency peer: Yoder (-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.
Long-tail ranks near “zilch”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- xenia
xenia
44,807 corpus weight
- yad
yad
44,805 corpus weight
- yadda
yadda
44,804 corpus weight
- Yana
Yana
44,803 corpus weight
- Yoder
Yoder
44,801 corpus weight
- zilch
zilch
44,799 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “zilch” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | zilch |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /zɪlt͡ʃ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #55,202 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “zilch” in English
Rare enough to double-check
zilch is uncommon English at frequency #55,202 among 265 “Z” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /zɪlt͡ʃ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for zilch in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: Probably from Joe Zilch, a placeholder name (compare John Doe) used by Nunnally Johnson in his column in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle from 1923; in turn from Joe Zilch, an unseen character referenced in comedian Frank Tinney's stage routine. Compare the rare Ge… The correct English form is zilch, spelled Z-I-L-C-H.
Definition
- 1A nobody: a person who is worthless in importance or character.
- 2Nothing, zero.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how zilch appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
President Henry P. Zilch. Chairman of the Board Charles D. Zilch. Treasurer Otto Zilch.
Bernarr MacZilch [for Bernarr Macfadden] and His Dynamic-Hooey System... The WEAKLING Who Became 'The World's Most Perfect Ass!'
Etymology
Probably from Joe Zilch, a placeholder name (compare John Doe) used by Nunnally Johnson in his column in the Brooklyn Daily Eagle from 1923; in turn from Joe Zilch, an unseen character referenced in comedian Frank Tinney's stage routine. Compare the rare German surname Zilch.
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); 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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "zilch", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).