dysthymia
"dysthymia" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dysthymia” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A tendency to be depressed, without hope.
Corpus desk
Index EN-dysthymia · dysthymia · English
dysthymia · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "D" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | dysthymia |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “dysthymia” in English
Rare enough to double-check
dysthymia is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for dysthymia, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From dys- + -thymia. From Ancient Greek δυσθυμία (dusthumía, “despondency, despair; ill-temper”), from δυσ- (dus-, “bad”) + θυμός (thumós, “soul, spirit”). The correct English form is dysthymia, spelled D-Y-S-T-H-Y-M-I-A.
Definition
- 1A tendency to be depressed, without hope.
- 2A form of clinical depression, characterized by low-grade depression which lasts at least two years.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how dysthymia appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Other [subway] passengers showed no outward signs of distress. They appeared to have homes and money and good health, they carried briefcases or bags. … Their faces didn't cave in despair or trouble or strain. But they still had a walled-off look, their brows furrowed, their eyes cast deep into their newspapers or their laps. They looked so dissatified an…
For diagnostic, research, and treatment reasons, a distinction should always be made between the milder dysthymias, atypical and hysteroid depressions, and the more serious major depressive illnesses, with and without melancholic (vegetative) and psychotic features.
Etymology
From dys- + -thymia. From Ancient Greek δυσθυμία (dusthumía, “despondency, despair; ill-temper”), from δυσ- (dus-, “bad”) + θυμός (thumós, “soul, spirit”).
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.