# cancerous

> English word · Adjective · IPA /ˈkænsəɹəs/ · frequency rank #23,772

## Definitions
1. Relating to or affected with cancer.
2. Growing or spreading rapidly to the point of harm.
3. Extremely unpleasant; detestable.

## Etymology
From Middle English cancerous, from Latin cancerōsus, from cancer (“crab; tumor, cancer”) + -ōsus (adjective-forming suffix). By surface analysis, cancer + -ous.

## Common misspellings (13)
`acncerous`, `cacnerous`, `canccerous`, `canceorus`, `cancerosu`, `cancerouss`, `cancerrous`, `canceruos`, `cancreous`, `canecrous`, `canncerous`, `ccancerous`, `cnacerous`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/cancerous