backslide
"backslide" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“backslide” is uncommon English (frequency #97,820 among 31,241 “B” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #97,820
- frequency rank, English
- 31,241
- “B” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To regress; to slip backwards or revert to a previous, worse state.
Corpus desk
Index EN-backslide · backslide · English
backslide · rank #97,820 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #97,820
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 31,241
- PHOTO-FINISH backplate
Nearest frequency peer: backplate (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “backslide”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- bacc
bacc
2,184 corpus weight
- backflow
backflow
2,183 corpus weight
- backplate
backplate
2,182 corpus weight
- backslide
backslide
2,181 corpus weight
- backsplash
backsplash
2,180 corpus weight
- Bactrian
Bactrian
2,179 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “backslide” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | backslide |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #97,820 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “backslide” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
backslide is uncommon English at frequency #97,820 among 31,241 “B” headwords, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for backslide in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From back + slide. The correct English form is backslide, spelled B-A-C-K-S-L-I-D-E.
Definition
- 1To regress; to slip backwards or revert to a previous, worse state.
- 2To shirk responsibility; to renege on one's obligations or commitments.
- 3To revert back into a life of sin after being saved.
Etymology
From back + slide.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "backslide", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.