dextrorotatory
"dextrorotatory" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dextrorotatory” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as an adjective - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 14
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - That rotates the plane of polarized light to the right, or clockwise. Notation: (+) or formerly lowercase d-.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dextrorotatory |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 14 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “dextrorotatory” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for dextrorotatory is 14 letters long, classified as an adjective. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "That rotates the plane of polarized light to the right, or clockwise. Notation: (+) or formerly lowercase d-.".
Zero misspellings are on record for dextrorotatory in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From dextro- + rotatory. The correct English form is dextrorotatory, spelled D-E-X-T-R-O-R-O-T-A-T-O-R-Y.
Definition
- 1That rotates the plane of polarized light to the right, or clockwise. Notation: (+) or formerly lowercase d-.
Etymology
From dextro- + rotatory.
Antonyms
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
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Using “dextrorotatory”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-E-X-T-R-O-R-O-T-A-T-O-R-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- 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.