abysmal
/əˈbɪz.məl/
"abysmal" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“abysmal” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #31,848 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #31,848
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Pertaining to, or resembling an abyss.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | abysmal |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /əˈbɪz.məl/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #31,848 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “abysmal” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for abysmal is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈbɪz.məl/. Corpus data places it at rank #31,848 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for abysmal, with forms such as "abbysmal", "absymal", and "abymsal". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From abysm + -al. Compare abyssal. The correct English form is abysmal, spelled A-B-Y-S-M-A-L.
Definition
- 1Pertaining to, or resembling an abyss.
- 2Extremely bad; terrible.
Etymology
From abysm + -al. Compare abyssal.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: abbysmal,absymal,abymsal,abysaml,abysmall,abysmla,abysmmal,abyssmal,abyysmal,aybsmal,baysmal
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of abysmal - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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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Using “abysmal”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-B-Y-S-M-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əˈbɪz.məl/ (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.