defenceless
/dɪˈfɛnsləs/
"defenceless" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“defenceless” has 15 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #36,101. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #36,101
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
- 15
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Without defence; undefended.
Corpus desk
Index EN-defenceless · defenceless · English
defenceless · rank #36,101 · 15 variants · 1 confusable
- FREQ-MID #36,101
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
- VAR-HIGH 15 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH DFW
Nearest frequency peer: DFW (+2 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 “defenceless”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- covet
covet
63,906 corpus weight
- dales
dales
63,903 corpus weight
- defenceless
defenceless
63,900 corpus weight
- DFW
DFW
63,898 corpus weight
- Diggs
Diggs
63,897 corpus weight
- dingy
dingy
63,896 corpus weight
What this shows “defenceless” 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 | defenceless |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /dɪˈfɛnsləs/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #36,101 |
| Misspellings tracked | 15 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “defenceless”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 15 spelling variants around defenceless (IPA /dɪˈfɛnsləs/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #36,101 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Without defence; undefended.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for defenceless, with forms such as "ddefenceless", "deefnceless", and "defecneless". 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, "defenseless", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From defence + -less. The correct English form is defenceless, spelled D-E-F-E-N-C-E-L-E-S-S.
Definition
- 1Without defence; undefended.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how defenceless appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Paralysed, the old man was defenceless; and the robbers easily stole all of his money.
The hawk, foul murderer of defenceless birds, has sighted the chicken on the bare patch.
Etymology
From defence + -less.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ddefenceless
- deefnceless
- defecneless
- defencceless
- defenceelss
- defenceles
- defencelless
- defencelses
- defencleess
- defenecless
- defennceless
- deffenceless
- defneceless
- dfeenceless
- edfenceless
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of defenceless - 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.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "defenceless", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).