acne
/ˈækni/
"acne" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“acne” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #11,830 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #11,830
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 4
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A skin condition, usually of the face, that is common in adolescents. It is characterised by red pimples, and is caused by the inflammation of sebaceous glands through bacterial infection.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | acne |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈækni/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #11,830 |
| Misspellings tracked | 4 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “acne” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for acne is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈækni/. Corpus data places it at rank #11,830 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 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for acne, with forms such as "accne", "acen", and "acnne". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "an", "AE", "and", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From New Latin acnē, probably a corruption of Ancient Greek ἀκμή (akmḗ, “point, top”). The correct English form is acne, spelled A-C-N-E.
Definition
- 1A skin condition, usually of the face, that is common in adolescents. It is characterised by red pimples, and is caused by the inflammation of sebaceous glands through bacterial infection.
- 2A pattern of blemishes in an area of skin resulting from the skin condition.
Etymology
From New Latin acnē, probably a corruption of Ancient Greek ἀκμή (akmḗ, “point, top”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: accne,acen,acnne,ance
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of acne - 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 “acne”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-C-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈækni/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “an” - see the side-by-side comparison. acne vs an
- 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.