dengue fever

/ˈdɛŋɡeɪ ˈfiːvə/

//ˈdɛŋɡeɪ ˈfiːvə// noun

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

The verdict

“dengue fever” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An acute febrile and sometimes hemorrhagic disease endemic to the tropics, caused by varieties of the species Dengue virus, and primarily transmitted to humans from mosquitoes, though human-to-huma...

Corpus desk

Index EN-dengue-fever · dengue fever · English

dengue fever · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-5 5 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.

Key facts for dengue fever
PropertyValue
Headworddengue fever
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈdɛŋɡeɪ ˈfiːvə/
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “dengue fever” in English

dengue feverfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

dengue fever is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈdɛŋɡeɪ ˈfiːvə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An acute febrile and sometimes hemorrhagic disease endemic to the tropics, caused by varieties of the species Dengue virus, and primarily transmitted to humans from mosquitoes, though human-to-huma...".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for dengue fever, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: Via Spanish, a corruption of Swahili ki denga pepo, meaning "cramp-like seizure caused by an evil spirit". The correct English form is dengue fever, spelled D-E-N-G-U-E- -F-E-V-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    An acute febrile and sometimes hemorrhagic disease endemic to the tropics, caused by varieties of the species Dengue virus, and primarily transmitted to humans from mosquitoes, though human-to-human transmission is also well documented.

Etymology

Via Spanish, a corruption of Swahili ki denga pepo, meaning "cramp-like seizure caused by an evil spirit".

Synonyms

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "dengue fever"?
"dengue fever" is spelled D-E-N-G-U-E- -F-E-V-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈdɛŋɡeɪ ˈfiːvə/.
What does "dengue fever" mean?
As a noun, "dengue fever" means: An acute febrile and sometimes hemorrhagic disease endemic to the tropics, caused by varieties of the species Dengue virus, and primarily transmitted to humans from mosquitoes, though human-to-huma...
How do you pronounce "dengue fever"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "dengue fever" is /ˈdɛŋɡeɪ ˈfiːvə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "dengue fever"?
Via Spanish, a corruption of Swahili ki denga pepo, meaning "cramp-like seizure caused by an evil spirit". 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list