calumny
/ˈkæləmni/
"calumny" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“calumny” is an uncommon English word, ranked #97,906 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #97,906
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A false accusation or charge brought to tarnish another's reputation or standing.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | calumny |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkæləmni/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #97,906 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “calumny” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for calumny is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkæləmni/. Corpus data places it at rank #97,906 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for calumny, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. 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: From Late Middle English calumnīe (“false accusation, slander; (law) objection raised in bad faith”), borrowed from Old French calomnie (“slander, calumny”) (modern French calomnie), or directly from its etymon Latin calumnia (“false statement, misrepresent… The correct English form is calumny, spelled C-A-L-U-M-N-Y.
Definition
- 1A false accusation or charge brought to tarnish another's reputation or standing.
- 2Falsifications or misrepresentations intended to disparage or discredit another.
Etymology
From Late Middle English calumnīe (“false accusation, slander; (law) objection raised in bad faith”), borrowed from Old French calomnie (“slander, calumny”) (modern French calomnie), or directly from its etymon Latin calumnia (“false statement, misrepresentation; false accusation, malicious charge”), perhaps also related to calvor (“to deceive”). The English word is a doublet of challenge. The verb is derived from French calomnier (“to slander”), from Late Latin calumniāre, from Latin calumpniārī, calumniārī (“to blame unjustly, misrepresent, calumniate; (law) to accuse falsely, bring false information against”), from calumnia (see above) + -or.
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 “calumny”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-A-L-U-M-N-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkæləmni/ (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.