alcoholism

/ˈælkə(ˌ)hɔˌlɪzəm/

//ˈælkə(ˌ)hɔˌlɪzəm// noun

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

"alcoholism" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“alcoholism” has 15 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #15,948. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#15,948
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
15
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A chronic disease caused by compulsive and uncontrollable consumption of alcoholic beverages, leading to addiction and deterioration in health and social functioning.

Corpus desk

Index EN-alcoholism · alcoholism · English

alcoholism · rank #15,948 · 15 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #15,948
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH Adele

Nearest frequency peer: Adele (-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 “alcoholism”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “alcoholism” 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).

alcoholism vs alcoholic
80% similar

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

Key facts for alcoholism
PropertyValue
Headwordalcoholism
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈælkə(ˌ)hɔˌlɪzəm/
Letters10
Frequency rank#15,948
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “alcoholism”

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).alcoholismlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Adele” (#15,947), “amplifier” (#15,949), “abiding” (#15,946). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “alcoholism” is #15,948. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around alcoholism (IPA /ˈælkə(ˌ)hɔˌlɪzəm/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #15,948 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for alcoholism, with forms such as "acloholism", "alccoholism", and "alchoolism". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "alcoholic", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From alcohol + -ism. Derived from New Latin alcoholismus chronicus, coined by the Swedish professor of medicine Magnus Huss in 1849. The correct English form is alcoholism, spelled A-L-C-O-H-O-L-I-S-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    A chronic disease caused by compulsive and uncontrollable consumption of alcoholic beverages, leading to addiction and deterioration in health and social functioning.
  2. 2
    Acute alcohol poisoning.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. chronic alcoholism
  2. struggle with alcoholism

Etymology

From alcohol + -ism. Derived from New Latin alcoholismus chronicus, coined by the Swedish professor of medicine Magnus Huss in 1849.

This word in other languages

alcoholismo(Español)alcoolisme(Français)Alkoholismus(Deutsch)alcoolismo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • acloholism
  • alccoholism
  • alchoolism
  • alcohholism
  • alcohloism
  • alcohoilsm
  • alcoholims
  • alcoholismm
  • alcoholissm
  • alcohollism
  • alcoholsim
  • alcoohlism
  • allcoholism
  • alocholism
  • lacoholism

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of alcoholism - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

acloholism2alccoholism1alchoolism2alcohholism1alcohloism2alcohoilsm2alcoholims2alcoholismm1
Edit distance from "alcoholism"

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 "alcoholism"?
"alcoholism" is spelled A-L-C-O-H-O-L-I-S-M. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈælkə(ˌ)hɔˌlɪzəm/.
What does "alcoholism" mean?
As a noun, "alcoholism" means: A chronic disease caused by compulsive and uncontrollable consumption of alcoholic beverages, leading to addiction and deterioration in health and social functioning.
What words are commonly confused with "alcoholism"?
"alcoholism" is commonly confused with "alcoholic". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "alcoholism"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "alcoholism" is /ˈælkə(ˌ)hɔˌlɪzəm/. 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 "alcoholism"?
From alcohol + -ism. Derived from New Latin alcoholismus chronicus, coined by the Swedish professor of medicine Magnus Huss in 1849. 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 "alcoholism", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

astounding#15,954vertically#15,938underworld#15,936bitterness#15,967

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

symbolism15 variantsstandings15 variantschecklist15 variantscoronation15 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list