ephedrine
/ˈɛf.ə.dɹiːn/
"ephedrine" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ephedrine” is uncommon English (frequency #62,122 among 18,836 “E” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #62,122
- frequency rank, English
- 18,836
- “E” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A crystalline alkaloid drug C₁₀H₁₅NO obtained from a Chinese ephedra (Ephedra sinica) or synthesized that has the physiological action of epinephrine. It causes constriction of the blood vessels an...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ephedrine |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɛf.ə.dɹiːn/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #62,122 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ephedrine” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
ephedrine is uncommon English at frequency #62,122 among 18,836 “E” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɛf.ə.dɹiːn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A crystalline alkaloid drug C₁₀H₁₅NO obtained from a Chinese ephedra (Ephedra sinica) or synthesized that has the physiological action of epinephrine. It causes constriction of the blood vessels an...".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for ephedrine, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From ephedra + -ine. The correct English form is ephedrine, spelled E-P-H-E-D-R-I-N-E.
Definition
- 1A crystalline alkaloid drug C₁₀H₁₅NO obtained from a Chinese ephedra (Ephedra sinica) or synthesized that has the physiological action of epinephrine. It causes constriction of the blood vessels and widening of the bronchial passages and is used in the form of its hydrochloride or sulfate to relieve asthma and hay fever.
Etymology
From ephedra + -ine.
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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Using “ephedrine”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-P-H-E-D-R-I-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɛf.ə.dɹiːn/ (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
Other uncommon English words near this 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.