diabolical
[ˌdaɪəˈbɒlɪkəɫ]
"diabolical" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“diabolical” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #30,395 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #30,395
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 14
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of or concerning the devil: devilish, satanic.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | diabolical |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | [ˌdaɪəˈbɒlɪkəɫ] |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #30,395 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “diabolical” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for diabolical is 10 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as [ˌdaɪəˈbɒlɪkəɫ]. Corpus data places it at rank #30,395 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 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for diabolical, with forms such as "daibolical", "ddiabolical", and "diabbolical". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From diabolic + -al. The correct English form is diabolical, spelled D-I-A-B-O-L-I-C-A-L.
Definition
- 1Of or concerning the devil: devilish, satanic.
- 2Extremely wicked or cruel.
- 3(Devilishly) cunning or devious.
- 4Crazy, wild (sometimes especially due to being unexpected or surprising).
Etymology
From diabolic + -al.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: daibolical,ddiabolical,diabbolical,diabloical,diaboilcal,diabolcial,diaboliacl,diabolicall,diaboliccal,diabolicla,diabollical,diaoblical,dibaolical,idabolical
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of diabolical - 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 “diabolical”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-I-A-B-O-L-I-C-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as [ˌdaɪəˈbɒlɪkəɫ] (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.