cursory
/ˈkɜː.sə.ɹi/
"cursory" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cursory” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #31,943 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #31,943
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Hasty or superficial.
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 | cursory |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈkɜː.sə.ɹi/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #31,943 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cursory” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for cursory is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkɜː.sə.ɹi/. Corpus data places it at rank #31,943 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for cursory, with forms such as "ccursory", "crusory", and "curosry". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "curry", "cursor", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French cursoire (“rapid”), from Latin cursorius (“hasty, of a race or running”). The correct English form is cursory, spelled C-U-R-S-O-R-Y.
Definition
- 1Hasty or superficial.
- 2Careless or desultory.
- 3Running about; not stationary.
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French cursoire (“rapid”), from Latin cursorius (“hasty, of a race or running”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccursory,crusory,curosry,currsory,cursorry,cursoryy,cursoyr,cursroy,curssory,cusrory,ucrsory
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cursory - 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
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Using “cursory”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-U-R-S-O-R-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkɜː.sə.ɹi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “curry” - see the side-by-side comparison. cursory vs curry
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.