banzai
/ˈbɑːnˈzaɪ/
"banzai" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“banzai” is uncommon English (frequency #63,438 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #63,438
- frequency rank, English
- 4,121
- “B” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Thrill-seeking; wild.
Corpus desk
Index EN-banzai · banzai · English
banzai · rank #63,438 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #63,438
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,121
- PHOTO-FINISH Banfield
Nearest frequency peer: Banfield (-2 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 “banzai”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Backus
Backus
36,569 corpus weight
- Bakelite
Bakelite
36,567 corpus weight
- Banfield
Banfield
36,565 corpus weight
- banzai
banzai
36,563 corpus weight
- Bathsheba
Bathsheba
36,560 corpus weight
- batts
batts
36,558 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “banzai” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | banzai |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈbɑːnˈzaɪ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #63,438 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “banzai” in English
Rare enough to double-check
banzai is uncommon English at frequency #63,438 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈbɑːnˈzaɪ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Thrill-seeking; wild.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for banzai in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Japanese 万歳(ばんざい) (banzai, “long live..., huzzah, hurrah”), from Middle Chinese 萬歲 (mjonᴴ sjwejᴴ), from Old Chinese 萬歲 (*mans s-qʷʰats, “10,000 years [of life]”, i.e. “immortality”), from 萬 /万 (wàn, “10,000”) 歲 /岁 (suì, “year (of age)”). Compare Mandar… The correct English form is banzai, spelled B-A-N-Z-A-I.
Definition
- 1Thrill-seeking; wild.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how banzai appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Still, the Seca II isn't meant to be a racebike, and power is adequate for all but the most banzai backroad blitzing.
Etymology
From Japanese 万歳(ばんざい) (banzai, “long live..., huzzah, hurrah”), from Middle Chinese 萬歲 (mjonᴴ sjwejᴴ), from Old Chinese 萬歲 (*mans s-qʷʰats, “10,000 years [of life]”, i.e. “immortality”), from 萬 /万 (wàn, “10,000”) 歲 /岁 (suì, “year (of age)”). Compare Mandarin 萬歲／万岁 (wànsùi).
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 "banzai", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).