cyberattack

noun

"cyberattack" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“cyberattack” is uncommon English (frequency #65,031 among 5,599 “C” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#65,031
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An attack or intrusion by means of a computer network such as the Internet, often for the purpose of spying.

Corpus desk

Index EN-cyberattack · cyberattack · English

cyberattack · rank #65,031 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #65,031
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH cwm

Nearest frequency peer: cwm (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “cyberattack”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “cyberattack” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for cyberattack
PropertyValue
Headwordcyberattack
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters11
Frequency rank#65,031
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “cyberattack” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).cyberattackfalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “cwm” (#65,030), “cutlets” (#65,029), “Dalmatia” (#65,033). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “cyberattack” is #65,031. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

cyberattack is uncommon English at frequency #65,031 among 5,599 “C” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An attack or intrusion by means of a computer network such as the Internet, often for the purpose of spying.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for cyberattack, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From cyber- + attack. The correct English form is cyberattack, spelled C-Y-B-E-R-A-T-T-A-C-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    An attack or intrusion by means of a computer network such as the Internet, often for the purpose of spying.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He also points out that if the US does come under cyberattack, we may be powerless to stop the attack.
  2. In the months before Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel's arrival in Beijing on Monday, the Obama administration quietly held an extraordinary briefing for the Chinese military leadership on a subject officials have rarely discussed in public: The Pentagon's emerging doctrine for defending against cyberattacks against the United States – and for using its cybe…

Etymology

From cyber- + attack.

Antonyms

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "cyberattack"?
"cyberattack" is spelled C-Y-B-E-R-A-T-T-A-C-K.
What does "cyberattack" mean?
As a noun, "cyberattack" means: An attack or intrusion by means of a computer network such as the Internet, often for the purpose of spying.
What is the origin of the word "cyberattack"?
From cyber- + attack. 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 "cyberattack", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list