criterion
/kɹɪˈtɪəɹi.ən/
"criterion" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“criterion” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #15,790. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #15,790
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A standard, test, or requirement by which individual things or people may be compared and judged; a gauge.
Corpus desk
Index EN-criterion · criterion · English
criterion · rank #15,790 · 13 variants · 1 confusable
- FREQ-MID #15,790
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
- VAR-HIGH 13 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH coughing
Nearest frequency peer: coughing (-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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “criterion”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- contrasting
contrasting
84,214 corpus weight
- convergence
convergence
84,213 corpus weight
- coughing
coughing
84,212 corpus weight
- criterion
criterion
84,211 corpus weight
- crowns
crowns
84,209 corpus weight
- Cummings
Cummings
84,208 corpus weight
What this shows “criterion” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | criterion |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /kɹɪˈtɪəɹi.ən/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #15,790 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “criterion”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 13 spelling variants around criterion (IPA /kɹɪˈtɪəɹi.ən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #15,790 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Dominant gloss: "A standard, test, or requirement by which individual things or people may be compared and judged; a gauge.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for criterion, with forms such as "ccriterion", "cirterion", and "crietrion". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "criteria", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From New Latin criterion, from Ancient Greek κριτήριον (kritḗrion, “a test, a means of judging”), from κριτής (kritḗs, “judge”), from κρίνω (krínō, “to judge”); see critic. The correct English form is criterion, spelled C-R-I-T-E-R-I-O-N.
Definition
- 1A standard, test, or requirement by which individual things or people may be compared and judged; a gauge.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how criterion appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Near-synonym: benchmark
criterion of choice, of decision, of selection
Etymology
From New Latin criterion, from Ancient Greek κριτήριον (kritḗrion, “a test, a means of judging”), from κριτής (kritḗs, “judge”), from κρίνω (krínō, “to judge”); see critic.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ccriterion
- cirterion
- crietrion
- criteiron
- criterino
- criterionn
- criteroin
- criterrion
- critreion
- critterion
- crriterion
- crtierion
- rciterion
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of criterion - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "criterion"?
What does "criterion" mean?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "criterion", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).