alternative medicine
"alternative-medicine" is a 19-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“alternative medicine” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 20
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of various nonscientific or pseudoscientific medical methods and practices used either in place of or in addition to conventional (scientific) medicine.
Corpus desk
Index EN-alternative-medicine · alternative medicine · English
alternative medicine · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 20 letters
- VOW-9 9 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "A" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | alternative medicine |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 20 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “alternative medicine” in English
Rare enough to double-check
alternative medicine is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Any of various nonscientific or pseudoscientific medical methods and practices used either in place of or in addition to conventional (scientific) medicine.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for alternative medicine, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is alternative medicine, spelled A-L-T-E-R-N-A-T-I-V-E- -M-E-D-I-C-I-N-E.
Definition
- 1Any of various nonscientific or pseudoscientific medical methods and practices used either in place of or in addition to conventional (scientific) medicine.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how alternative medicine appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Unlike their conventional counterparts, practitioners of alternative medicine often excel at harnessing the placebo effect, says Dr Ernst.
“Such courses involve so-called 'complementary or alternative medicine' masquerading as, and sitting side-by-side with, evidence-based health-related science courses,” the letter said. It added that universities were risking their reputations by teaching courses like chiropractic, homeopathy, iridology and reflexology.
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.