bikini
/bɪˈkiː.ni/
"bikini" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bikini” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #11,172 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #11,172
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A brief two-piece bathing suit worn by women, especially one that exposes the midriff and navel.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bikini |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /bɪˈkiː.ni/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #11,172 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bikini” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for bikini is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bɪˈkiː.ni/. Corpus data places it at rank #11,172 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for bikini, with forms such as "bbikini", "biikni", and "bikiin". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "biting", "Birkin", "baking", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Marshallese pik Marshallese ni Marshallese Pikinnibor. German Bikinibor. English Bikinibor. French Bikini French bikinibor. English bikini From French bikini, named after the place name Bikini, from English Bikini, the name of the atoll where… The correct English form is bikini, spelled B-I-K-I-N-I.
Definition
- 1A brief two-piece bathing suit worn by women, especially one that exposes the midriff and navel.
- 2A brief bathing suit covering only the pelvis (equivalent to the bottom portion of a two-piece bikini), worn by any gender.
- 3Brief underpants or trousers that reach to the hips rather than the waist.
Etymology
Etymology tree Marshallese pik Marshallese ni Marshallese Pikinnibor. German Bikinibor. English Bikinibor. French Bikini French bikinibor. English bikini From French bikini, named after the place name Bikini, from English Bikini, the name of the atoll where the United States tested nuclear weapons in July 1946; it was reckoned that the bathing suit would cause as much excitement as a nuclear bomb. This name was originally from German Bikini, the colonial name of the atoll as part of German New Guinea, and this was derived from Marshallese Pikinni.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbikini,biikni,bikiin,bikinni,bikkini,biknii,bkiini,ibkini
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bikini - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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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Using “bikini”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-I-K-I-N-I - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /bɪˈkiː.ni/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “biting” - see the side-by-side comparison. bikini vs biting
- 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.