counterintelligence

noun

"counterintelligence" is a 19-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“counterintelligence” has 28 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #44,712. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#44,712
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
28
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - counterespionage

Corpus desk

Index EN-counterintelligence · counterintelligence · English

counterintelligence · rank #44,712 · 28 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #44,712
  • LEN-MEGA 19 letters
  • VOW-8 8 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 28 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH Cotswolds

Nearest frequency peer: Cotswolds (-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 “counterintelligence”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “counterintelligence” 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 counterintelligence
PropertyValue
Headwordcounterintelligence
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters19
Frequency rank#44,712
Misspellings tracked28
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “counterintelligence” sits in English frequency

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).counterintelligencelands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “Cotswolds” (#44,711), “countertop” (#44,713), “cosmetology” (#44,710). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 28 spelling variants around counterintelligence, anoun. Corpus frequency is #44,712 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Dominant gloss: "counterespionage".

Our generated misspelling index lists 28 likely wrong-spelling variants for counterintelligence, with forms such as "ccounterintelligence", "conuterintelligence", and "counetrintelligence". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From counter- + intelligence. The correct English form is counterintelligence, spelled C-O-U-N-T-E-R-I-N-T-E-L-L-I-G-E-N-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    counterespionage

Etymology

From counter- + intelligence.

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccounterintelligence
  • conuterintelligence
  • counetrintelligence
  • counnterintelligence
  • counteirntelligence
  • counterinetlligence
  • counterinntelligence
  • counterinteligence
  • counterintelilgence
  • counterintellgience
  • counterintelliegnce
  • counterintelligance
  • counterintelligecne
  • counterintelligencce
  • counterintelligenec
  • counterintelligennce
  • counterintelliggence
  • counterintellignece
  • counterintleligence
  • counterinttelligence
  • counteritnelligence
  • counternitelligence
  • counterrintelligence
  • countreintelligence
  • countterintelligence
  • coutnerintelligence
  • cuonterintelligence
  • ocunterintelligence

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of counterintelligence - 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.

ccounterintelligence1conuterintelligence2counetrintelligence2counnterintelligence1counteirntelligence2counterinetlligence2counterinntelligence1counterinteligence1
Edit distance from "counterintelligence"

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 "counterintelligence"?
"counterintelligence" is spelled C-O-U-N-T-E-R-I-N-T-E-L-L-I-G-E-N-C-E.
What does "counterintelligence" mean?
As a noun, "counterintelligence" means: counterespionage
What are common misspellings of "counterintelligence"?
Common misspellings include "ccounterintelligence", "conuterintelligence", "counetrintelligence", "counnterintelligence", "counteirntelligence". The correct spelling is "counterintelligence".
What is the origin of the word "counterintelligence"?
From counter- + intelligence. 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 "counterintelligence", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 19 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (28 here; floor ≥5).

What to do next

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

  • 28 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #44,712 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