catabolic
"catabolic" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“catabolic” is uncommon English (frequency #97,915 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #97,915
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of, or relating to catabolism.
Corpus desk
Index EN-catabolic · catabolic · English
catabolic · rank #97,915 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #97,915
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH catenary
Nearest frequency peer: catenary (+2 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 “catabolic”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- carny
carny
2,092 corpus weight
- carom
carom
2,091 corpus weight
- catabolic
catabolic
2,086 corpus weight
- catenary
catenary
2,084 corpus weight
- cathodic
cathodic
2,082 corpus weight
- ceilinged
ceilinged
2,080 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “catabolic” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | catabolic |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #97,915 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “catabolic” in English
Rare enough to double-check
catabolic is uncommon English at frequency #97,915 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Of, or relating to catabolism.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for catabolic, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is catabolic, spelled C-A-T-A-B-O-L-I-C.
Definition
- 1Of, or relating to catabolism.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how catabolic appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Near-synonym: catabolytic (sometimes synonymous)
“This is the idea of catabolic collapse: that what we’re living through is a series of crises, sometimes followed by momentary resolution, but the long-term trend is downturn. It’s not going to be a sudden event that’s everything in a single day, which I think people like preppers are more accustomed to thinking.”
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 "catabolic"?
What does "catabolic" mean?
What language does "catabolic" come from?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "catabolic", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).