cankered

adj

"cankered" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cankered” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Infected with a canker or having a cankerous part.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cankered · cankered · English

cankered · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "C" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for cankered
PropertyValue
Headwordcankered
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “cankered” in English

cankeredranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cankered is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for cankered, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English cankered, y-cancred, past participle of Middle English cankren, equivalent to canker + -ed. The correct English form is cankered, spelled C-A-N-K-E-R-E-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    Infected with a canker or having a cankerous part.
  2. 2
    Ulcerated.
  3. 3
    Corrupted; morally corrupt.
  4. 4
    Bad-tempered.

Etymology

From Middle English cankered, y-cancred, past participle of Middle English cankren, equivalent to canker + -ed.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "cankered"?
"cankered" is spelled C-A-N-K-E-R-E-D.
What does "cankered" mean?
As an adjective, "cankered" means: Infected with a canker or having a cankerous part.
What is the origin of the word "cankered"?
From Middle English cankered, y-cancred, past participle of Middle English cankren, equivalent to canker + -ed. 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list