condescend
/ˌkɒndɪˈsɛnd/
"condescend" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“condescend” is uncommon English (frequency #70,574 among 43,570 “C” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #70,574
- frequency rank, English
- 43,570
- “C” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To come down or go down; to descend.
Corpus desk
Index EN-condescend · condescend · English
condescend · rank #70,574 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #70,574
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 43,570
- PHOTO-FINISH Conestoga
Nearest frequency peer: Conestoga (+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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “condescend”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- clave
clave
29,433 corpus weight
- Cleverley
Cleverley
29,432 corpus weight
- clumped
clumped
29,431 corpus weight
- cognizance
cognizance
29,429 corpus weight
- condescend
condescend
29,427 corpus weight
- Conestoga
Conestoga
29,426 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “condescend” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | condescend |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˌkɒndɪˈsɛnd/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #70,574 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “condescend” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
condescend is uncommon English at frequency #70,574 among 43,570 “C” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˌkɒndɪˈsɛnd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 11 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for condescend, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English condescenden, condescendre (“to deign, condescend; to accede graciously; to agree; to agree to, give consent; to make a concession, yield; etc.”), from Old French condescendre (“to descend, go down; to agree or assent to”) (modern French… The correct English form is condescend, spelled C-O-N-D-E-S-C-E-N-D.
Definition
- 1To come down or go down; to descend.
- 2To come down from a superior position and do something; to deign; (with a negative connotation) to stoop.
- 3To treat someone as though inferior; to talk down to someone; to patronize.
- 4Chiefly followed by on or upon: to go into detail; to particularize, to specify.
- 5To agree to something; to accede, to assent, to consent; also, to reach an agreement.
- 6To give way or yield in a deferential manner; to be amenable or compliant.
- 7To graciously give; to vouchsafe.
- 8To reach a certain point; to settle on.
- 9To secretly make plans, usually to bring about a bad or illegal result; to conspire, to plot.
- 10To treat (someone) as though inferior; to talk down to (someone); to patronize.
- 11Often preceded by the dummy pronoun it: to agree to (something); to consent.
Etymology
From Middle English condescenden, condescendre (“to deign, condescend; to accede graciously; to agree; to agree to, give consent; to make a concession, yield; etc.”), from Old French condescendre (“to descend, go down; to agree or assent to”) (modern French condescendre), from Ecclesiastical Latin condēscendere, the present active infinitive of condēscendō (“to stoop down; to condescend”), from Latin con- (prefix denoting a bringing together of several objects) + dēscendō (“to come or go down, descend; to stoop down”) (from dē- (prefix denoting reversal or undoing) + scandō (“to ascend, mount; to clamber”) (from Proto-Indo-European *skend- (“to climb, scale; to dart; to jump; etc.”))).
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "condescend", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.