bodacious
/boʊˈdeɪʃəs/
"bodacious" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bodacious” is an uncommon English word, ranked #73,916 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #73,916
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Audacious and unrestrained.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | bodacious |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /boʊˈdeɪʃəs/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #73,916 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bodacious” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for bodacious is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /boʊˈdeɪʃəs/. Corpus data places it at rank #73,916 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No misspelling variants are generated for bodacious in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Southern American slang, implied by bodaciously, 1837, either from bodyaciously (“bodily, totally, root and branch”, antebellum South Carolina) or a blend of bold and audacious. The correct English form is bodacious, spelled B-O-D-A-C-I-O-U-S.
Definition
- 1Audacious and unrestrained.
- 2Incorrigible and insolent.
- 3Impressively great in size, and enormous; extraordinary.
- 4Sexy, attractive.
Etymology
Southern American slang, implied by bodaciously, 1837, either from bodyaciously (“bodily, totally, root and branch”, antebellum South Carolina) or a blend of bold and audacious.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “bodacious”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-O-D-A-C-I-O-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /boʊˈdeɪʃəs/ (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.