exfoliation

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"exfoliation" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“exfoliation” is uncommon English (frequency #60,072 among 2,246 “E” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#60,072
frequency rank, English
2,246
“E” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The scaling off of a bone, a rock, or a mineral, etc.; the state of being exfoliated.

Corpus desk

Index EN-exfoliation · exfoliation · English

exfoliation · rank #60,072 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #60,072
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,246
  • PHOTO-FINISH exfoliate

Nearest frequency peer: exfoliate (-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 “exfoliation”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “exfoliation” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for exfoliation
PropertyValue
Headwordexfoliation
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters11
Frequency rank#60,072
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “exfoliation” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).exfoliationfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “exfoliate” (#60,071), “exhalation” (#60,073), “evolutionarily” (#60,070). Among 2,246 “E” headwords, “exfoliation” is #60,072. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

exfoliation is uncommon English at frequency #60,072 among 2,246 “E” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for exfoliation, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin exfoliare (to remove leaves). The correct English form is exfoliation, spelled E-X-F-O-L-I-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    The scaling off of a bone, a rock, or a mineral, etc.; the state of being exfoliated.
  2. 2
    The removal of a layer of dead skin, as in cosmetic preparation.
  3. 3
    The loss of leaves from a plant.

Etymology

From Latin exfoliare (to remove leaves).

This word in other languages

exfoliación(Español)exfoliation(Français)Peeling(Deutsch)

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

How do you spell "exfoliation"?
"exfoliation" is spelled E-X-F-O-L-I-A-T-I-O-N.
What does "exfoliation" mean?
As a noun, "exfoliation" means: The scaling off of a bone, a rock, or a mineral, etc.; the state of being exfoliated.
What is the origin of the word "exfoliation"?
From Latin exfoliare (to remove leaves). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "exfoliation", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

evaporative#60,066earnestness#60,043diamondback#60,016Dardanelles#59,999

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list