empath
/ˈɛm.pæθ/
"empath" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“empath” is uncommon English (frequency #68,190 among 18,836 “E” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #68,190
- frequency rank, English
- 18,836
- “E” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - One who has the ability to sense emotions; someone who is empathic or practises empathy.
Corpus desk
Index EN-empath · empath · English
empath · rank #68,190 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #68,190
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 18,836
- PHOTO-FINISH endothelium
Nearest frequency peer: endothelium (+2 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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “empath”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- ells
ells
31,817 corpus weight
- elytra
elytra
31,815 corpus weight
- empath
empath
31,811 corpus weight
- endothelium
endothelium
31,809 corpus weight
- Enola
Enola
31,808 corpus weight
- ensnare
ensnare
31,806 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “empath” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | empath |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɛm.pæθ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #68,190 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “empath” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
empath is uncommon English at frequency #68,190 among 18,836 “E” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɛm.pæθ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for empath in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From empathy. The correct English form is empath, spelled E-M-P-A-T-H.
Definition
- 1One who has the ability to sense emotions; someone who is empathic or practises empathy.
- 2A person with extrasensory empathic ability, capable of sensing the emotions of others around them in a way unexplained by conventional science and psychology.
Etymology
From empathy.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "empath", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
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.