conscientious

/ˌkɒnʃiˈɛnʃəs/

//ˌkɒnʃiˈɛnʃəs// adj

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

"conscientious" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“conscientious” has 19 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #21,169. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#21,169
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
19
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Thorough, careful, or vigilant in one’s task performance; painstaking.

Corpus desk

Index EN-conscientious · conscientious · English

conscientious · rank #21,169 · 19 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #21,169
  • LEN-MEGA 13 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 19 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH Cong

Nearest frequency peer: Cong (-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 “conscientious”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “conscientious” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for conscientious
PropertyValue
Headwordconscientious
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˌkɒnʃiˈɛnʃəs/
Letters13
Frequency rank#21,169
Misspellings tracked19
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “conscientious” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). conscientious lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 19 spelling variants around conscientious (IPA /ˌkɒnʃiˈɛnʃəs/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #21,169 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 19 likely wrong-spelling variants for conscientious, with forms such as "cconscientious", "cnoscientious", and "concsientious". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French conscientieux, from Medieval Latin cōnscientiōsus. Its English equivalent could possibly be analyzed as conscient + -ous. See more at conscience. The correct English form is conscientious, spelled C-O-N-S-C-I-E-N-T-I-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Thorough, careful, or vigilant in one’s task performance; painstaking.
  2. 2
    Influenced by conscience; principled; governed by a strict regard to the dictates of conscience, or by the known or supposed rules of right and wrong (said of a person).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He was a thoughtful and conscientious worker.
  2. The advice of wise and conscientious people.

Etymology

From Middle French conscientieux, from Medieval Latin cōnscientiōsus. Its English equivalent could possibly be analyzed as conscient + -ous. See more at conscience.

Antonyms

capriciousimpulsivethoughtless

This word in other languages

concienzudo(Español)consciencieux(Français)gewissenhaft(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • cconscientious
  • cnoscientious
  • concsientious
  • connscientious
  • consccientious
  • consceintious
  • conscienitous
  • conscienntious
  • conscientiosu
  • conscientiouss
  • conscientiuos
  • conscientoius
  • conscienttious
  • conscietnious
  • conscinetious
  • consicentious
  • consscientious
  • cosncientious
  • ocnscientious

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of conscientious - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

cconscientious1cnoscientious2concsientious2connscientious1consccientious1consceintious2conscienitous2conscienntious1
Edit distance from "conscientious"

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 September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "conscientious"?
"conscientious" is spelled C-O-N-S-C-I-E-N-T-I-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌkɒnʃiˈɛnʃəs/.
What does "conscientious" mean?
As an adjective, "conscientious" means: Thorough, careful, or vigilant in one’s task performance; painstaking.
What are common misspellings of "conscientious"?
Common misspellings include "cconscientious", "cnoscientious", "concsientious", "connscientious", "consccientious". The correct spelling is "conscientious".
How do you pronounce "conscientious"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "conscientious" is /ˌkɒnʃiˈɛnʃəs/. 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 "conscientious"?
From Middle French conscientieux, from Medieval Latin cōnscientiōsus. Its English equivalent could possibly be analyzed as conscient + -ous. See more at conscience. 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 "conscientious", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 13 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

uninterrupted#21,108mathematician#21,274motherfucking#21,287psychotherapy#21,034

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (19 here; floor ≥5).

fluorescence19 variantsinfiltration19 variantsmalnutrition19 variantsdeteriorating19 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "conscientious". Here's where to go from here.

  • 19 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #21,169 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "C" letter cohort. C–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list