bedbug
/ˈbɛdˌbʌɡ/
"bedbug" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bedbug” is uncommon English (frequency #77,450 among 31,241 “B” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #77,450
- frequency rank, English
- 31,241
- “B” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A small nocturnal insect pest of humans, of species Cimex lectularius (common bedbug) and Cimex hemipterus (tropical bedbug) that feeds on the blood of humans during sleep.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bedbug |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbɛdˌbʌɡ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #77,450 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bedbug” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
bedbug is uncommon English at frequency #77,450 among 31,241 “B” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈbɛdˌbʌɡ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for bedbug in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From bed + bug. The correct English form is bedbug, spelled B-E-D-B-U-G.
Definition
- 1A small nocturnal insect pest of humans, of species Cimex lectularius (common bedbug) and Cimex hemipterus (tropical bedbug) that feeds on the blood of humans during sleep.
- 2Any similar insect of family Cimicidae, that feeds on the blood of humans and certain other warm-blooded animals.
Etymology
From bed + bug.
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.
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Using “bedbug”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-E-D-B-U-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbɛdˌbʌɡ/ (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
Other uncommon English words near this 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.