demotion

noun

"demotion" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“demotion” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #41,590 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#41,590
frequency rank, English
8
letters
12
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An act of demoting; a lowering of rank or status.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

demotion vs devotion
88% similar
demotion vs deletion
75% similar
demotion vs demolition
80% similar

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

Key facts for demotion
PropertyValue
Headworddemotion
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters8
Frequency rank#41,590
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “demotion” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). demotion lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for demotion is 8 letters long, classified as a noun. Corpus data places it at rank #41,590 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "An act of demoting; a lowering of rank or status.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for demotion, with forms such as "ddemotion", "demmotion", and "demoiton". 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, "devotion", "deletion", "demolition", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is easiest to reason about phoneme by phoneme, absent a documented history. The correct English form is demotion, spelled D-E-M-O-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    An act of demoting; a lowering of rank or status.

Antonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: ddemotion,demmotion,demoiton,demosion,demotino,demotionn,demotoin,demottion,demtoion,deomtion,dmeotion,edmotion

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ddemotion1demmotion1demoiton2demosion1demotino2demotionn1demotoin2demottion1
Edit distance from "demotion"

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 "demotion"?
"demotion" is spelled D-E-M-O-T-I-O-N.
What does "demotion" mean?
As a noun, "demotion" means: An act of demoting; a lowering of rank or status.
What words are commonly confused with "demotion"?
"demotion" is commonly confused with "devotion", "deletion", "demolition". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "demotion" come from?
"demotion" 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.

Using “demotion”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is D-E-M-O-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “devotion” - see the side-by-side comparison. demotion vs devotion
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list