defendants

/dɪˈfɛnd.ənts/

//dɪˈfɛnd.ənts// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"defendants" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“defendants” has 16 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #8,918. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#8,918
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
16
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - plural of defendant

Corpus desk

Index EN-defendants · defendants · English

defendants · rank #8,918 · 16 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #8,918
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 16 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH cowboy

Nearest frequency peer: cowboy (-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 “defendants”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “defendants” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

defendants vs dependant
80% similar
defendants vs descendants
82% similar
defendants vs defendant
90% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for defendants
PropertyValue
Headworddefendants
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/dɪˈfɛnd.ənts/
Letters10
Frequency rank#8,918
Misspellings tracked16
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “defendants”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).defendantslands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “cowboy” (#8,917), “desirable” (#8,919), “correspondence” (#8,916). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “defendants” is #8,918. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 16 spelling variants around defendants (IPA /dɪˈfɛnd.ənts/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #8,918 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Dominant gloss: "plural of defendant".

Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for defendants, with forms such as "ddefendants", "deefndants", and "defednants". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "dependant", "descendants", "defendant", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is defendants, spelled D-E-F-E-N-D-A-N-T-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    plural of defendant

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddefendants
  • deefndants
  • defednants
  • defenadnts
  • defendannts
  • defendanst
  • defendantss
  • defendantts
  • defendatns
  • defenddants
  • defendnats
  • defenndants
  • deffendants
  • defnedants
  • dfeendants
  • edfendants

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of defendants - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ddefendants1deefndants2defednants2defenadnts2defendannts1defendanst2defendantss1defendantts1
Edit distance from "defendants"

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 "defendants"?
"defendants" is spelled D-E-F-E-N-D-A-N-T-S. The IPA pronunciation is /dɪˈfɛnd.ənts/.
What does "defendants" mean?
As a noun, "defendants" means: plural of defendant
What words are commonly confused with "defendants"?
"defendants" is commonly confused with "dependant", "descendants", "defendant". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "defendants"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "defendants" is /dɪˈfɛnd.ənts/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "defendants" come from?
"defendants" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "defendants", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

constitute#8,915censorship#8,906autonomous#8,892incomplete#8,946

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (16 here; floor ≥5).

incorporate16 variantsprestigious16 variantstherapeutic16 variantsconfronted16 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list