genius
/ˈd͡ʒiː.ni.əs/
"genius" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“genius” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #4,089 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #4,089
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 6
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Someone possessing extraordinary intelligence or skill; especially somebody who has demonstrated this by a creative or original work in science, music, art, etc.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | genius |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈd͡ʒiː.ni.əs/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #4,089 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 6 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “genius” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for genius is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈd͡ʒiː.ni.əs/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,089 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for genius, with forms such as "egnius", "geinus", and "genisu". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "gens", "genus", "gents", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin genius (“inborn nature; a tutelary deity of a person or place; wit, brilliance”), from gignō (“to beget, produce”), Old Latin genō, from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵenh₁-. Doublet of genio. See also genus and genie. The correct English form is genius, spelled G-E-N-I-U-S.
Definition
- 1Someone possessing extraordinary intelligence or skill; especially somebody who has demonstrated this by a creative or original work in science, music, art, etc.
- 2Extraordinary mental capacity.
- 3Inspiration, a mental leap, an extraordinary creative process.
- 4The tutelary deity or spirit of a place or person.
Etymology
From Latin genius (“inborn nature; a tutelary deity of a person or place; wit, brilliance”), from gignō (“to beget, produce”), Old Latin genō, from the Proto-Indo-European root *ǵenh₁-. Doublet of genio. See also genus and genie.
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: egnius,geinus,genisu,geniuss,gennius,genuis,ggenius,gneius
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of genius - 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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Using “genius”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is G-E-N-I-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈd͡ʒiː.ni.əs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “gens” - see the side-by-side comparison. genius vs gens
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.