detergent
/dɪˈtɜːdʒənt/
"detergent" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“detergent” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #22,350 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #22,350
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 14
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any non-soap cleaning agent, especially a synthetic surfactant.
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 | detergent |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /dɪˈtɜːdʒənt/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #22,350 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “detergent” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for detergent is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dɪˈtɜːdʒənt/. Corpus data places it at rank #22,350 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Any non-soap cleaning agent, especially a synthetic surfactant.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for detergent, with forms such as "ddetergent", "deetrgent", and "detegrent". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "divergent", "deterrent", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French détergent, from Latin dētergēns, the present participle of dētergeō, from dē (“off”) + tergeō (“wipe, polish”). The correct English form is detergent, spelled D-E-T-E-R-G-E-N-T.
Definition
- 1Any non-soap cleaning agent, especially a synthetic surfactant.
Etymology
From French détergent, from Latin dētergēns, the present participle of dētergeō, from dē (“off”) + tergeō (“wipe, polish”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddetergent,deetrgent,detegrent,deteregnt,detergennt,detergentt,detergetn,deterggent,detergnet,deterrgent,detregent,dettergent,dteergent,edtergent
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of detergent - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “detergent”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-E-T-E-R-G-E-N-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /dɪˈtɜːdʒənt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “divergent” - see the side-by-side comparison. detergent vs divergent
- 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.