death wish
"death-wish" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“death wish” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A desire, especially subconscious, for the death of oneself or of someone else.
Corpus desk
Index EN-death-wish · death wish · English
death wish · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "D" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | death wish |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “death wish” in English
Rare enough to double-check
death wish is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A desire, especially subconscious, for the death of oneself or of someone else.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for death wish, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From death + wish. Calque of German Todeswunsch. The correct English form is death wish, spelled D-E-A-T-H- -W-I-S-H.
Definition
- 1A desire, especially subconscious, for the death of oneself or of someone else.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how death wish appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Does Trump suffer from some kind of political death wish? If so, we must hope his fall comes quickly. It is hard to think of any precedent for such a calamitous display of insensitivity, historical ignorance and uncomprehending political stupidity.
Wait, Kris! What the HELL was that!??!?! Why would NOELLE?? Ask ME?? To do HOMEWORK?? With HER?!?? Deathwish much? Does she WANNA fail?
Etymology
From death + wish. Calque of German Todeswunsch.
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.