despot
/ˈdɛs.pɒt/
"despot" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“despot” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #42,603 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #42,603
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A ruler with absolute power; a tyrant.
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 | despot |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdɛs.pɒt/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #42,603 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “despot” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for despot is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdɛs.pɒt/. Corpus data places it at rank #42,603 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for despot, with forms such as "ddespot", "depsot", and "desopt". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "despotic", "depot", "desert", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French despote, from Old French despote, from Medieval Latin despota, from Ancient Greek δεσπότης (despótēs, “lord, master, owner”). Cognate with Sanskrit दम्पति (dámpati). The correct English form is despot, spelled D-E-S-P-O-T.
Definition
- 1A ruler with absolute power; a tyrant.
- 2A title awarded to senior members of the imperial family in the late Byzantine Empire, and claimed by various independent or semi-autonomous rulers in the Balkans (12th to 15th centuries)
Etymology
From Middle French despote, from Old French despote, from Medieval Latin despota, from Ancient Greek δεσπότης (despótēs, “lord, master, owner”). Cognate with Sanskrit दम्पति (dámpati).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddespot,depsot,desopt,despott,desppot,despto,desspot,dsepot,edspot
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of despot - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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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Using “despot”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-E-S-P-O-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈdɛs.pɒt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “despotic” - see the side-by-side comparison. despot vs despotic
- 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.