ascorbic

adj

"ascorbic" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“ascorbic” is uncommon English (frequency #59,201 among 3,931 “A” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#59,201
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of or pertaining to ascorbic acid or its derivatives.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ascorbic · ascorbic · English

ascorbic · rank #59,201 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #59,201
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH asceticism

Nearest frequency peer: asceticism (-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 “ascorbic”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for ascorbic
PropertyValue
Headwordascorbic
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters8
Frequency rank#59,201
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “ascorbic” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).ascorbicfalls 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: “asceticism” (#59,200), “ASIO” (#59,202), “arvo” (#59,199). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “ascorbic” is #59,201. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ascorbic is uncommon English at frequency #59,201 among 3,931 “A” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Zero misspellings are on record for ascorbic in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From a- + scorbutic, possibly influenced by scorbic. The correct English form is ascorbic, spelled A-S-C-O-R-B-I-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of or pertaining to ascorbic acid or its derivatives.
  2. 2
    Associated with the absence of scurvy; acting against scurvy.

Etymology

From a- + scorbutic, possibly influenced by scorbic.

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 "ascorbic"?
"ascorbic" is spelled A-S-C-O-R-B-I-C.
What does "ascorbic" mean?
As an adjective, "ascorbic" means: Of or pertaining to ascorbic acid or its derivatives.
What is the origin of the word "ascorbic"?
From a- + scorbutic, possibly influenced by scorbic. 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 "ascorbic", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list