childless

adj

"childless" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“childless” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #26,719. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#26,719
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Not having any children.

Corpus desk

Index EN-childless · childless · English

childless · rank #26,719 · 13 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #26,719
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH Chao

Nearest frequency peer: Chao (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “childless”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “childless” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

childless vs childrens
78% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for childless
PropertyValue
Headwordchildless
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters9
Frequency rank#26,719
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “childless”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).childlesslands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “Chao” (#26,718), “chimes” (#26,720), “chalet” (#26,717). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “childless” is #26,719. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around childless, anadjective. Corpus frequency is #26,719 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Not having any children.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for childless, with forms such as "cchildless", "chhildless", and "chidlless". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "childrens", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English childles; equivalent to child + -less. The correct English form is childless, spelled C-H-I-L-D-L-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Not having any children.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how childless appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. I am a lone wolf, a solitary man, wandering through a world in which I have no part. I am wifeless—childless—who is it speaks of the childless as the dead twigs on the tree of life?
  2. “He’s a 70-year-old childless warmonger and he has no stake in the future of this country,” Dans said. “He is the very reason that MAGA started in the first place, and we only have to look at 2016 when he was a vehement Trump hater. A leopard doesn’t change its spots.”

Etymology

From Middle English childles; equivalent to child + -less.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cchildless
  • chhildless
  • chidlless
  • childdless
  • childelss
  • childles
  • childlless
  • childlses
  • chilldess
  • chilldless
  • chlidless
  • cihldless
  • hcildless

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of childless - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

cchildless1chhildless1chidlless2childdless1childelss2childles1childlless1childlses2
Edit distance from "childless"

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 "childless"?
"childless" is spelled C-H-I-L-D-L-E-S-S.
What does "childless" mean?
As an adjective, "childless" means: Not having any children.
What words are commonly confused with "childless"?
"childless" is commonly confused with "childrens". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What is the origin of the word "childless"?
From Middle English childles; equivalent to child + -less. 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 "childless", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list