diarrhea

/ˌdaɪ.əˈɹiː.ə/

//ˌdaɪ.əˈɹiː.ə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"diarrhea" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“diarrhea” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #13,902. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#13,902
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
9
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A gastrointestinal disorder characterized by frequent and very soft or watery bowel movements.

Corpus desk

Index EN-diarrhea · diarrhea · English

diarrhea · rank #13,902 · 9 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #13,902
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH detrimental

Nearest frequency peer: detrimental (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “diarrhea”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “diarrhea” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for diarrhea
PropertyValue
Headworddiarrhea
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌdaɪ.əˈɹiː.ə/
Letters8
Frequency rank#13,902
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “diarrhea”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).diarrhealands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “detrimental” (#13,901), “disposed” (#13,903), “desperation” (#13,900). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “diarrhea” is #13,902. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around diarrhea (IPA /ˌdaɪ.əˈɹiː.ə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #13,902 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for diarrhea, with forms such as "dairrhea", "ddiarrhea", and "diarhea". 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. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English diaria, from Middle French diarrie (French diarrhée), from Late Latin diarrhoea, from Ancient Greek διάρροια (diárrhoia, “through-flowing”), from διά (diá, “through”) + ῥέω (rhéō, “flow”). By surface analysis, dia- + -rrhea. Spelling lat… The correct English form is diarrhea, spelled D-I-A-R-R-H-E-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    A gastrointestinal disorder characterized by frequent and very soft or watery bowel movements.
  2. 2
    The watery or very soft excrement that comes from such bowel movements.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how diarrhea appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. My Pampers bill is higher than your paycheck, my hands are raw from washing them every six minutes, and I do eight loads of laundry a day because everything we own is covered in diarrhea, and you want me to "plug him up" and wait another three weeks?
  2. I looked and saw that she and her hammock were covered in diarrhea.

Etymology

From Middle English diaria, from Middle French diarrie (French diarrhée), from Late Latin diarrhoea, from Ancient Greek διάρροια (diárrhoia, “through-flowing”), from διά (diá, “through”) + ῥέω (rhéō, “flow”). By surface analysis, dia- + -rrhea. Spelling later altered to resemble the word's Latin and Greek roots. Displaced native Old English ūtsiht (literally “straining out”).

Synonyms

poop waterthe runsthe shitsthe squirtsthe trotsthe squitsthe skittersloose motionbubble gutscrapsdiarrheadysenteryHershey squirtslaskrunsshitsskitterssquirtssquitstrotsLBM

This word in other languages

diarrea(Español)diarrhée(Français)Durchfall(Deutsch)diarreia(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • dairrhea
  • ddiarrhea
  • diarhea
  • diarhrea
  • diarreha
  • diarrhae
  • diarrhhea
  • dirarhea
  • idarrhea

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of diarrhea - 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.

dairrhea2ddiarrhea1diarhea1diarhrea2diarreha2diarrhae2diarrhhea1dirarhea2
Edit distance from "diarrhea"

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 "diarrhea"?
"diarrhea" is spelled D-I-A-R-R-H-E-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌdaɪ.əˈɹiː.ə/.
What does "diarrhea" mean?
As a noun, "diarrhea" means: A gastrointestinal disorder characterized by frequent and very soft or watery bowel movements.
What are common misspellings of "diarrhea"?
Common misspellings include "dairrhea", "ddiarrhea", "diarhea", "diarhrea", "diarreha". The correct spelling is "diarrhea".
How do you pronounce "diarrhea"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "diarrhea" is /ˌdaɪ.əˈɹiː.ə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "diarrhea"?
From Middle English diaria, from Middle French diarrie (French diarrhée), from Late Latin diarrhoea, from Ancient Greek διάρροια (diárrhoia, “through-flowing”), from διά (diá, “through”) + ῥέω (rhéō, “flow”). By surface analysis, dia- + -rrhea. Sp... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "diarrhea", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

disposed#13,903doctoral#13,905draining#13,906drifting#13,909

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

drains9 variantscloudy9 variantsgarner9 variantscanton9 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list