choleric
/ˈkɒləɹɪk/
"choleric" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“choleric” 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) - Senses relating to choler or yellow bile (“one of the four humours formerly believed to be secreted by the liver”).
Corpus desk
Index EN-choleric · choleric · English
choleric · 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | choleric |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈkɒləɹɪk/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “choleric” in English
Rare enough to double-check
choleric is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈkɒləɹɪk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 11 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for choleric in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English colerik (“(adjective) of or relating to, or dominated by, choler; of diseases: caused by excessive or toxic choler; of persons or their temperament: dominated by choler, irascible, quick to anger, choleric; of weather or zodiac signs: fa… The correct English form is choleric, spelled C-H-O-L-E-R-I-C.
Definition
- 1Senses relating to choler or yellow bile (“one of the four humours formerly believed to be secreted by the liver”).
- 2Senses relating to choler or yellow bile (“one of the four humours formerly believed to be secreted by the liver”).
- 3Senses relating to choler or yellow bile (“one of the four humours formerly believed to be secreted by the liver”).
- 4Senses relating to choler or yellow bile (“one of the four humours formerly believed to be secreted by the liver”).
- 5Senses relating to choler or yellow bile (“one of the four humours formerly believed to be secreted by the liver”).
- 6Senses relating to choler or yellow bile (“one of the four humours formerly believed to be secreted by the liver”).
- 7Senses relating to choler or yellow bile (“one of the four humours formerly believed to be secreted by the liver”).
- 8Senses relating to choler or yellow bile (“one of the four humours formerly believed to be secreted by the liver”).
- 9Senses relating to choler or yellow bile (“one of the four humours formerly believed to be secreted by the liver”).
- 10Senses relating to cholera (“any of several acute infectious diseases caused by certain strains of the Vibrio cholerae bacterium”).
- 11Senses relating to cholera (“any of several acute infectious diseases caused by certain strains of the Vibrio cholerae bacterium”).
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how choleric appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Alway remember, that in wynter fleume increaſeth by reaſon of rayne and moyſtneſſe of that ſeaſon, alſo the length of nyghtes and moche reſte. And therfore in that tyme cholerike perſons, are beſt at eaſe, ſemblably are yonge men, but to olde men wynter is ennemye.
And let a Man bevvare, hovv he keepeth Company, vvith Cholerick and Quarelſome Perſons; for they vvill engage him into their ovvne Quarels.
Etymology
From Middle English colerik (“(adjective) of or relating to, or dominated by, choler; of diseases: caused by excessive or toxic choler; of persons or their temperament: dominated by choler, irascible, quick to anger, choleric; of weather or zodiac signs: favourable to choler; (noun) person dominated by choler, person who is irascible or quick to anger; etc.”), from Anglo-Norman coleric, colerik, colerique, Middle French colerique, and Old French colerique (“(adjective) of or relating to choler; of persons or their temperament: dominated by choler, irascible, quick to anger; angry, enraged; (noun) person dominated by choler; person who is irascible”) (modern French cholérique), and from their etymon Late Latin cholericus (“quick to anger”), Latin cholericus (“person having cholera”), from Ancient Greek χολερικός (kholerikós, “of or relating to cholera”), from χολέρᾰ (kholéră, “cholera”) + -ῐκός (-ĭkós, suffix meaning ‘of or relating to’). Χολέρᾰ (Kholéră) is possibly from Pre-Greek, or from χολή (kholḗ, “bile; gall”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰelh₃- (“green; yellow”). By surface analysis, choler + -ic (suffix meaning ‘of or relating to’). Piecewise doublet of choleraic. Adjective adjective sense 2.1 (“of or relating to cholera; affected by cholera”) and noun noun sense 2.1 (“person suffering from cholera”) are probably influenced by French cholérique (“(adjective) of or relating to cholera; affected by cholera; (noun) person with cholera”).
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.