detonate
/ˈdɛtəneɪt/
"detonate" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“detonate” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #29,627 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #29,627
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To explode, blow up
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 | detonate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈdɛtəneɪt/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #29,627 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “detonate” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for detonate is 8 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdɛtəneɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #29,627 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for detonate, with forms such as "ddetonate", "deotnate", and "detnoate". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "donate", "detonator", "decorate", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: First attested in 1729; either borrowed from French détoner or directly from Latin dētonātus, perfect passive participle of dētonō (“to thunder down (strongly); (figuratively, of a person) to thunder, speak threateningly, to rage; to stop thundering”) (see … The correct English form is detonate, spelled D-E-T-O-N-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To explode, blow up
- 2To explode, blow up
- 3To cause to explode.
- 4To express sudden anger.
Etymology
First attested in 1729; either borrowed from French détoner or directly from Latin dētonātus, perfect passive participle of dētonō (“to thunder down (strongly); (figuratively, of a person) to thunder, speak threateningly, to rage; to stop thundering”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from dē- (“off, from”) + tonō (“to thunder”)). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)tenh₂-. The current interlingual meaning seems to be a new formation in postclassical times (to thunder → make a large noise → explode), compare explode.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddetonate,deotnate,detnoate,detoante,detonaet,detonatte,detonnate,detontae,dettonate,dteonate,edtonate
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of detonate - 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 “detonate”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-E-T-O-N-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈdɛtəneɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “donate” - see the side-by-side comparison. detonate vs donate
- 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.