detainee
/ˌdɪteɪˈniː/
"detainee" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“detainee” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #34,856. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #34,856
- frequency rank, English
- 26,416
- “D” headwords
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Someone who is detained, especially in custody or confinement.
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 | detainee |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌdɪteɪˈniː/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #34,856 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “detainee” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 10 spelling variants around detainee (IPA /ˌdɪteɪˈniː/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #34,856 among 26,416 “D” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Someone who is detained, especially in custody or confinement.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for detainee, with forms such as "ddetainee", "deatinee", and "detaiene". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "detain", "detailed", "detained", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From detain + -ee. The correct English form is detainee, spelled D-E-T-A-I-N-E-E.
Definition
- 1Someone who is detained, especially in custody or confinement.
Etymology
From detain + -ee.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ddetainee
- deatinee
- detaiene
- detaine
- detainnee
- detaniee
- detianee
- dettainee
- dteainee
- edtainee
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of detainee - 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
How do you spell "detainee"?
What does "detainee" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "detainee"?
How do you pronounce "detainee"?
What is the origin of the word "detainee"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “detainee”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-E-T-A-I-N-E-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌdɪteɪˈniː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “detain” - see the side-by-side comparison. detainee vs detain
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Same frequency band
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.