claustrophobia

/ˌklɒs.trəˈfəʊ.bi.ə/

//ˌklɒs.trəˈfəʊ.bi.ə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"claustrophobia" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“claustrophobia” has 21 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #49,254. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#49,254
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
21
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The abnormal fear of closed, tight places.

Corpus desk

Index EN-claustrophobia · claustrophobia · English

claustrophobia · rank #49,254 · 21 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #49,254
  • LEN-MEGA 14 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 21 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH cinque

Nearest frequency peer: cinque (-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 “claustrophobia”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “claustrophobia” 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).

claustrophobia vs claustrophobic
93% similar

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

Key facts for claustrophobia
PropertyValue
Headwordclaustrophobia
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌklɒs.trəˈfəʊ.bi.ə/
Letters14
Frequency rank#49,254
Misspellings tracked21
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “claustrophobia”

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).claustrophobialands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “cinque” (#49,253), “cleaved” (#49,255), “Chittagong” (#49,252). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “claustrophobia” is #49,254. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 21 spelling variants around claustrophobia (IPA /ˌklɒs.trəˈfəʊ.bi.ə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #49,254 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Dominant gloss: "The abnormal fear of closed, tight places.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 21 likely wrong-spelling variants for claustrophobia, with forms such as "calustrophobia", "cclaustrophobia", and "clasutrophobia". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "claustrophobic", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin claustrum (“a shut-in place”), from Latin claudō (“I shut, close; I imprison, confine”) + -phobia. First attested in the British Medical Journal. The correct English form is claustrophobia, spelled C-L-A-U-S-T-R-O-P-H-O-B-I-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    The abnormal fear of closed, tight places.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. She complained of emaciation, nervousness, tenderness of the scalp, weakness of the back, claustrophobia, and other morbid fears.
  2. The first scenes, which take place in a minitheater that keeps shrinking, will be painful for anyone with even a tinge of claustrophobia.

Etymology

From Latin claustrum (“a shut-in place”), from Latin claudō (“I shut, close; I imprison, confine”) + -phobia. First attested in the British Medical Journal.

Antonyms

agoraphobia

This word in other languages

claustrofobia(Español)claustrophobie(Français)Platzangst(Deutsch)claustrofobia(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • calustrophobia
  • cclaustrophobia
  • clasutrophobia
  • clausrtophobia
  • clausstrophobia
  • claustorphobia
  • claustrohpobia
  • claustrophboia
  • claustrophhobia
  • claustrophobai
  • claustrophobbia
  • claustrophoiba
  • claustropohbia
  • claustropphobia
  • claustrpohobia
  • claustrrophobia
  • clausttrophobia
  • clautsrophobia
  • cllaustrophobia
  • cluastrophobia
  • lcaustrophobia

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of claustrophobia - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

calustrophobia2cclaustrophobia1clasutrophobia2clausrtophobia2clausstrophobia1claustorphobia2claustrohpobia2claustrophboia2
Edit distance from "claustrophobia"

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 "claustrophobia"?
"claustrophobia" is spelled C-L-A-U-S-T-R-O-P-H-O-B-I-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌklɒs.trəˈfəʊ.bi.ə/.
What does "claustrophobia" mean?
As a noun, "claustrophobia" means: The abnormal fear of closed, tight places.
What words are commonly confused with "claustrophobia"?
"claustrophobia" is commonly confused with "claustrophobic". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "claustrophobia"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "claustrophobia" is /ˌklɒs.trəˈfəʊ.bi.ə/. 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 "claustrophobia"?
From Latin claustrum (“a shut-in place”), from Latin claudō (“I shut, close; I imprison, confine”) + -phobia. First attested in the British Medical Journal. 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 "claustrophobia", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 14 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

conspiratorial#49,260hyperinflation#49,410idiosyncrasies#49,414initialization#49,424

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (21 here; floor ≥5).

computationally21 variantstransmutation21 variantsmilitarization21 variantsconflagration21 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list