aliphatic

/ælɪˈfætɪk/

//ælɪˈfætɪk// adj

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

The verdict

“aliphatic” is uncommon English (frequency #56,572 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#56,572
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of a class of organic compounds in which the carbon atoms are arranged in an open chain.

Corpus desk

Index EN-aliphatic · aliphatic · English

aliphatic · rank #56,572 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #56,572
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH alkaloid

Nearest frequency peer: alkaloid (+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.

Long-tail ranks near “aliphatic”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “aliphatic” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for aliphatic
PropertyValue
Headwordaliphatic
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ælɪˈfætɪk/
Letters9
Frequency rank#56,572
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “aliphatic” in English

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).aliphaticfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “alkaloid” (#56,573), “adrenergic” (#56,570), “Amano” (#56,576). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “aliphatic” is #56,572. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

aliphatic is uncommon English at frequency #56,572 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ælɪˈfætɪk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Of a class of organic compounds in which the carbon atoms are arranged in an open chain.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for aliphatic, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek ἄλειφαρ (áleiphar, “oil, ointment”) + -ic. The correct English form is aliphatic, spelled A-L-I-P-H-A-T-I-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of a class of organic compounds in which the carbon atoms are arranged in an open chain.

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ἄλειφαρ (áleiphar, “oil, ointment”) + -ic.

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

How do you spell "aliphatic"?
"aliphatic" is spelled A-L-I-P-H-A-T-I-C. The IPA pronunciation is /ælɪˈfætɪk/.
What does "aliphatic" mean?
As an adjective, "aliphatic" means: Of a class of organic compounds in which the carbon atoms are arranged in an open chain.
How do you pronounce "aliphatic"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "aliphatic" is /ælɪˈfætɪk/. 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 "aliphatic"?
From Ancient Greek ἄλειφαρ (áleiphar, “oil, ointment”) + -ic. 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 "aliphatic", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list