bastardy
/ˈbæstə(ɹ)di/
"bastardy" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bastardy” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The condition of being illegitimate, of being born to an unmarried woman and man or as the fruit of adultery.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bastardy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbæstə(ɹ)di/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bastardy” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
bastardy is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈbæstə(ɹ)di/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The condition of being illegitimate, of being born to an unmarried woman and man or as the fruit of adultery.".
Zero misspellings are on record for bastardy in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English bastardie (also as bastardrie), a borrowing from Middle French bastardie. Equivalent to bastard + -y. The correct English form is bastardy, spelled B-A-S-T-A-R-D-Y.
Definition
- 1The condition of being illegitimate, of being born to an unmarried woman and man or as the fruit of adultery.
Etymology
From Middle English bastardie (also as bastardrie), a borrowing from Middle French bastardie. Equivalent to bastard + -y.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “bastardy”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-A-S-T-A-R-D-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbæstə(ɹ)di/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.