dropsy
/ˈdrɒp.si/
"dropsy" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dropsy” is uncommon English (frequency #96,959 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #96,959
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Edema, swelling.
Corpus desk
Index EN-dropsy · dropsy · English
dropsy · rank #96,959 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #96,959
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH dugong
Nearest frequency peer: dugong (+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.
Long-tail ranks near “dropsy”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- drat
drat
3,046 corpus weight
- dreamless
dreamless
3,045 corpus weight
- dropsy
dropsy
3,042 corpus weight
- dugong
dugong
3,041 corpus weight
- dulcinea
dulcinea
3,039 corpus weight
- Dumaguete
Dumaguete
3,038 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “dropsy” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dropsy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdrɒp.si/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #96,959 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “dropsy” in English
Rare enough to double-check
dropsy is uncommon English at frequency #96,959 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈdrɒp.si/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Edema, swelling.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for dropsy, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English dropesie, idropesie, from Old French idropsie, ydropisie, from Latin hydrōps, from Ancient Greek ὕδρωψ (húdrōps), from ὕδωρ (húdōr, “water”). Doublet of hydropsy and hydrops. The correct English form is dropsy, spelled D-R-O-P-S-Y.
Definition
- 1Edema, swelling.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how dropsy appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Caliban: The dropſie drowne this foole,[…]
Your sacred Majesty, he has the dropsy;— We shall find pints of hydatids in’s liver, He has not half an inch of wholesome fat Upon his carious ribs—
Etymology
From Middle English dropesie, idropesie, from Old French idropsie, ydropisie, from Latin hydrōps, from Ancient Greek ὕδρωψ (húdrōps), from ὕδωρ (húdōr, “water”). Doublet of hydropsy and hydrops.
Synonyms
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); 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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "dropsy", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).