combust
/kəmˈbʌst/
"combust" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“combust” is uncommon English (frequency #56,674 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #56,674
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To burn; to catch fire.
Corpus desk
Index EN-combust · combust · English
combust · rank #56,674 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #56,674
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH colter
Nearest frequency peer: colter (-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 “combust”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- codecs
codecs
43,330 corpus weight
- colonialist
colonialist
43,329 corpus weight
- colter
colter
43,328 corpus weight
- combust
combust
43,327 corpus weight
- commerciali…
commercialism
43,326 corpus weight
- compulsively
compulsively
43,325 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “combust” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | combust |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /kəmˈbʌst/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #56,674 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “combust” in English
Rare enough to double-check
combust is uncommon English at frequency #56,674 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /kəmˈbʌst/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for combust in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English combust (“burnt”), from Old French combust, from Latin combustus, the perfect passive participle of Latin combūrere (“to burn up”). The correct English form is combust, spelled C-O-M-B-U-S-T.
Definition
- 1To burn; to catch fire.
- 2To erupt with enthusiasm or boisterousness.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how combust appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Brom swore after that he spoke only the truth, the truth that as he sat by my side praying for my soul, my body had combusted into flame, the fire rapidly engulfing my entire being.
The audience combusts.
Etymology
From Middle English combust (“burnt”), from Old French combust, from Latin combustus, the perfect passive participle of Latin combūrere (“to burn up”).
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 "combust", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).