alcoholic

/ˌæl.kəˈhɒl.ɪk/

//ˌæl.kəˈhɒl.ɪk// noun

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

"alcoholic" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“alcoholic” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #8,114. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,114
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A person who is addicted to alcohol.

Corpus desk

Index EN-alcoholic · alcoholic · English

alcoholic · rank #8,114 · 13 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,114
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH albeit

Nearest frequency peer: albeit (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “alcoholic”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “alcoholic” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

alcoholic vs alcoholism
80% similar
alcoholic vs alcohol
78% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for alcoholic
PropertyValue
Headwordalcoholic
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌæl.kəˈhɒl.ɪk/
Letters9
Frequency rank#8,114
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “alcoholic”

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).alcoholiclands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “albeit” (#8,113), “amazed” (#8,115), “aerial” (#8,112). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “alcoholic” is #8,114. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around alcoholic (IPA /ˌæl.kəˈhɒl.ɪk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #8,114 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for alcoholic, with forms such as "acloholic", "alccoholic", and "alchoolic". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "alcoholism", "alcohol", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Akkadian 𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)bor. Aramaic כוחלא (kuḥlā)bor. Arabic كُحْل (kuḥl) Andalusian Arabic اَلْكُحُول (al-kuḥūl)bor. Medieval Latin alcoholder. Middle English alcofol English alcohol Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Italic *-kos Latin -c… The correct English form is alcoholic, spelled A-L-C-O-H-O-L-I-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    A person who is addicted to alcohol.
  2. 2
    One who abuses alcohol.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Don't you know you've got your daddy's eyes Daddy was an alcoholic
  2. Seeing the British establishment struggle with the financial sector is like watching an alcoholic who still resists the idea that something drastic needs to happen for him to turn his life around.

Etymology

Etymology tree Akkadian 𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)bor. Aramaic כוחלא (kuḥlā)bor. Arabic كُحْل (kuḥl) Andalusian Arabic اَلْكُحُول (al-kuḥūl)bor. Medieval Latin alcoholder. Middle English alcofol English alcohol Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Italic *-kos Latin -cus Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic English alcoholic First attested 1891, from alcohol + -ic.

Antonyms

teetotaleron the wagon

This word in other languages

alcohólico(Español)alcoolique(Français)Alkoholiker(Deutsch)alcoólatra(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • acloholic
  • alccoholic
  • alchoolic
  • alcohholic
  • alcohloic
  • alcohoilc
  • alcoholci
  • alcoholicc
  • alcohollic
  • alcoohlic
  • allcoholic
  • alocholic
  • lacoholic

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of alcoholic - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

acloholic2alccoholic1alchoolic2alcohholic1alcohloic2alcohoilc2alcoholci2alcoholicc1
Edit distance from "alcoholic"

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 "alcoholic"?
"alcoholic" is spelled A-L-C-O-H-O-L-I-C. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌæl.kəˈhɒl.ɪk/.
What does "alcoholic" mean?
As a noun, "alcoholic" means: A person who is addicted to alcohol.
What words are commonly confused with "alcoholic"?
"alcoholic" is commonly confused with "alcoholism", "alcohol". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "alcoholic"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "alcoholic" is /ˌæl.kəˈhɒl.ɪk/. 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 "alcoholic"?
Etymology tree Akkadian 𒎎𒋆𒁉𒍣𒁕 (guḫlum)bor. Aramaic כוחלא (kuḥlā)bor. Arabic كُحْل (kuḥl) Andalusian Arabic اَلْكُحُول (al-kuḥūl)bor. Medieval Latin alcoholder. Middle English alcofol English alcohol Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Italic *-ko... 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 "alcoholic", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

automated#8,120Wikipedia#8,106catalogue#8,126Christine#8,128

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

ammunition13 variantsclicking13 variantsreviewing13 variantsrecognise13 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list