animus
/ˈæ.nɪ.məs/
"animus" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“animus” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #41,505. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #41,505
- frequency rank, English
- 3,931
- “A” headwords
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 8
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The basic impulses and instincts which govern one's actions.
Corpus desk
Index EN-animus · animus · English
animus · rank #41,505 · 8 variants · 8 confusables
- FREQ-MID #41,505
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
- VAR-MID 8 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,931
- PHOTO-FINISH androgynous
Nearest frequency peer: androgynous (-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 “animus”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- Anda
Anda
58,498 corpus weight
- androgynous
androgynous
58,497 corpus weight
- animus
animus
58,496 corpus weight
- anion
anion
58,495 corpus weight
- antipathy
antipathy
58,494 corpus weight
- Anubis
Anubis
58,493 corpus weight
What this shows “animus” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | animus |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈæ.nɪ.məs/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #41,505 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 8 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “animus”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 8 spelling variants around animus (IPA /ˈæ.nɪ.məs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #41,505 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for animus, with forms such as "ainmus", "animmus", and "animsu". 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 8 confusable-pair relationships, "anus", "anxious", "aims", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Latin animus (“the mind, in a great variety of meanings: the rational soul in man, intellect, consciousness, will, intention, courage, spirit, sensibility, feeling, passion, pride, vehemence, wrath, etc., the breath, life, soul”), fro… The correct English form is animus, spelled A-N-I-M-U-S.
Definition
- 1The basic impulses and instincts which govern one's actions.
- 2A feeling of enmity, animosity or ill will.
- 3Intention, motivation (of a legal person).
- 4The masculine aspect of the feminine psyche or personality.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how animus appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The current row arose swiftly, sparked both by historical animus and jockeying over future power and place in Asia - and it surprised many observers in the depth of antipathy on both sides.
However, the Republican party's anti-ESG animus has undoubtedly played a role, according to Bloy.
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Latin animus (“the mind, in a great variety of meanings: the rational soul in man, intellect, consciousness, will, intention, courage, spirit, sensibility, feeling, passion, pride, vehemence, wrath, etc., the breath, life, soul”), from Proto-Italic *anamos, from Proto-Indo-European *h₂enh₁mos, from *h₂enh₁- (“to breathe”). Closely related to Latin anima, which is a feminine form.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ainmus
- animmus
- animsu
- animuss
- aniums
- anmius
- annimus
- naimus
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of animus - 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.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "animus", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).