cannibalistic

/kan.ɪ.bəˈlɪs.tɪk/

//kan.ɪ.bəˈlɪs.tɪk// adj

"cannibalistic" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cannibalistic” is uncommon English (frequency #67,294 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#67,294
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Tending toward cannibalism.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cannibalistic · cannibalistic · English

cannibalistic · rank #67,294 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #67,294
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH Carissa

Nearest frequency peer: Carissa (+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 “cannibalistic”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for cannibalistic
PropertyValue
Headwordcannibalistic
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/kan.ɪ.bəˈlɪs.tɪk/
Letters13
Frequency rank#67,294
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “cannibalistic” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).cannibalisticfalls 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: “Carissa” (#67,295), “casework” (#67,298), “caulk” (#67,299). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cannibalistic” is #67,294. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cannibalistic is uncommon English at frequency #67,294 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /kan.ɪ.bəˈlɪs.tɪk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Tending toward cannibalism.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for cannibalistic, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Cariban *kariponader. Spanish caribeder. Spanish caríbalder. Spanish caníbalbor. English cannibal Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ίζω (-ízō) Proto-He… The correct English form is cannibalistic, spelled C-A-N-N-I-B-A-L-I-S-T-I-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    Tending toward cannibalism.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Cariban *kariponader. Spanish caribeder. Spanish caríbalder. Spanish caníbalbor. English cannibal Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ίζω (-ízō) Proto-Hellenic *-tās Ancient Greek -τής (-tḗs) Ancient Greek -ιστής (-istḗs)der. Latin -istader. Old French -istebor. Middle English -ist English -ist Proto-Indo-European *-kos Proto-Italic *-kos Latin -cus Latin -icuslbor. Old French -iquebor. Middle English -ik English -ic English -istic English cannibalistic From cannibal + -istic.

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

How do you spell "cannibalistic"?
"cannibalistic" is spelled C-A-N-N-I-B-A-L-I-S-T-I-C. The IPA pronunciation is /kan.ɪ.bəˈlɪs.tɪk/.
What does "cannibalistic" mean?
As an adjective, "cannibalistic" means: Tending toward cannibalism.
How do you pronounce "cannibalistic"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "cannibalistic" is /kan.ɪ.bəˈlɪs.tɪk/. 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 "cannibalistic"?
Etymology tree Proto-Cariban *kariponader. Spanish caribeder. Spanish caríbalder. Spanish caníbalbor. English cannibal Proto-Indo-European *-id- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *-idyéti Proto-Hellenic *-íďďō Ancient Greek -ίζω (-ízō... 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 "cannibalistic", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 13 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list