coccyx
/ˈkɑksɪks/
"coccyx" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“coccyx” is uncommon English (frequency #79,390 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #79,390
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The final (bottom-most) fused vertebrae at the base of the spine, the tailbone.
Corpus desk
Index EN-coccyx · coccyx · English
coccyx · rank #79,390 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #79,390
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH coalescence
Nearest frequency peer: coalescence (-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 “coccyx”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- circumpolar
circumpolar
20,616 corpus weight
- clapboard
clapboard
20,614 corpus weight
- coalescence
coalescence
20,612 corpus weight
- coccyx
coccyx
20,611 corpus weight
- cocksucking
cocksucking
20,609 corpus weight
- Colfer
Colfer
20,604 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “coccyx” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | coccyx |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkɑksɪks/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #79,390 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “coccyx” in English
Rare enough to double-check
coccyx is uncommon English at frequency #79,390 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈkɑksɪks/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The final (bottom-most) fused vertebrae at the base of the spine, the tailbone.".
coccyx doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin coccyx, from Ancient Greek κόκκυξ (kókkux, “cuckoo”), referring to the curved shape of a cuckoo's beak when viewed from the side. The correct English form is coccyx, spelled C-O-C-C-Y-X.
Definition
- 1The final (bottom-most) fused vertebrae at the base of the spine, the tailbone.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how coccyx appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
He lands on the concrete path and bounces on his coccyx, which cracks the base of his spine.
An actor herself, McAlpine was hands-on, demonstrating “how you penetrate” on screen: “If you can move your coccyx, just arch your back slightly, it looks fantastic,” she says happily. “Those orgy scenes were amazing.”
Etymology
From Latin coccyx, from Ancient Greek κόκκυξ (kókkux, “cuckoo”), referring to the curved shape of a cuckoo's beak when viewed from the side.
Synonyms
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "coccyx", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).