excelsior
/ɛkˈsɛl.si.ɔː/
"excelsior" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“excelsior” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #34,879. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #34,879
- frequency rank, English
- 2,246
- “E” headwords
- 13
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Loftier, yet higher, more elevated; ever upward.
Corpus desk
Index EN-excelsior · excelsior · English
excelsior · rank #34,879 · 13 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-MID #34,879
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-HIGH 13 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,246
- PHOTO-FINISH exploitative
Nearest frequency peer: exploitative (+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 “excelsior”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- euphoric
euphoric
65,126 corpus weight
- evangelism
evangelism
65,125 corpus weight
- excelsior
excelsior
65,122 corpus weight
- exploitative
exploitative
65,121 corpus weight
- fae
fae
65,119 corpus weight
- Falkland
Falkland
65,118 corpus weight
What this shows “excelsior” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | excelsior |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ɛkˈsɛl.si.ɔː/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #34,879 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “excelsior”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 13 spelling variants around excelsior (IPA /ɛkˈsɛl.si.ɔː/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #34,879 among 2,246 “E” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for excelsior, with forms such as "ecxelsior", "exccelsior", and "excelisor". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin excelsior, comparative of excelsus (“high”). The name of the stuffing material was originally a trademark. As an exclamation, originating in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem Excelsior (1841), based on the New York state motto. Popularized in the… The correct English form is excelsior, spelled E-X-C-E-L-S-I-O-R.
Definition
- 1Loftier, yet higher, more elevated; ever upward.
- 2More surpassing, more excelling.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how excelsior appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
There was with him a whole host of moral heroes, who, conscious of their power to win the victory , and quickened by the inspirations which they received from that higher state of being, were striving, by the excelsior movement of the soul, to attain to those glory-encircled heights from whence they could look calmly down upon the plane of their earthly e…
At this crisis, reverberating among the pines, rang out more distinctly the voice of the excelsior man , urging me to come on. "Oh! I'm all right down here," I answered, gasping for breath.
Etymology
From Latin excelsior, comparative of excelsus (“high”). The name of the stuffing material was originally a trademark. As an exclamation, originating in Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's poem Excelsior (1841), based on the New York state motto. Popularized in the comic book fandom by Marvel Comics editor Stan Lee, who chose the term to sign off his columns as it was an obscure term and would confound competing publishers who imitated his style.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ecxelsior
- exccelsior
- excelisor
- excellsior
- excelsiorr
- excelsiro
- excelsoir
- excelssior
- exceslior
- exclesior
- execlsior
- exxcelsior
- xecelsior
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of excelsior - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "excelsior", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).