bilious

/ˈbɪl.i.əs/

//ˈbɪl.i.əs// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"bilious" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bilious” is uncommon English (frequency #91,294 among 4,121 “B” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#91,294
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of or pertaining to something containing or consisting of bile.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bilious · bilious · English

bilious · rank #91,294 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #91,294
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH biggin

Nearest frequency peer: biggin (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “bilious”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “bilious” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for bilious
PropertyValue
Headwordbilious
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈbɪl.i.əs/
Letters7
Frequency rank#91,294
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “bilious” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).biliousfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “biggin” (#91,293), “blackguard” (#91,296), “bencher” (#91,287). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bilious” is #91,294. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

bilious is uncommon English at frequency #91,294 among 4,121 “B” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈbɪl.i.əs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for bilious, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French bilieux, from Latin bīliōsus (“full of bile”), from bīlis (“bile”) + -ōsus (“full of”). The correct English form is bilious, spelled B-I-L-I-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of or pertaining to something containing or consisting of bile.
  2. 2
    Resembling bile, especially in color.
  3. 3
    Suffering from real or supposed liver disorder, especially excessive secretions of bile.
  4. 4
    Peevishly ill-humored, irritable or bad tempered; irascible.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how bilious appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Does money fail?—come to my mint—coin paper, Till gold be at a discount, and ashamed To show his bilious face, go purge himself, In emulation of her vestal whiteness.
  2. His complexion was pale, not of that deadly pallor which is a kind of neutral beauty, but of a bilious, yellow hue; his colorless hair was short and scarcely extended beyond the circle formed by the hat around his head, and his light blue eyes seemed destitute of any expression.

Etymology

From French bilieux, from Latin bīliōsus (“full of bile”), from bīlis (“bile”) + -ōsus (“full of”).

This word in other languages

biliar(Español)bilieux(Français)gallig(Deutsch)

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

How do you spell "bilious"?
"bilious" is spelled B-I-L-I-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbɪl.i.əs/.
What does "bilious" mean?
As an adjective, "bilious" means: Of or pertaining to something containing or consisting of bile.
How do you pronounce "bilious"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bilious" is /ˈbɪl.i.əs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "bilious"?
From French bilieux, from Latin bīliōsus (“full of bile”), from bīlis (“bile”) + -ōsus (“full of”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "bilious", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

bencher#91,287blusher#91,302Boileau#91,305bonhams#91,307

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list