holocaust
/ˈhɒl.ə(ʊ)ˌkɔːst/
"holocaust" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“holocaust” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #8,434 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #8,434
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An offering or sacrifice to a deity that is completely burned to ashes.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | holocaust |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈhɒl.ə(ʊ)ˌkɔːst/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #8,434 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “holocaust” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for holocaust is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈhɒl.ə(ʊ)ˌkɔːst/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,434 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for holocaust, with forms such as "hholocaust", "hloocaust", and "holcoaust". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is derived from Middle English holocaust (“burnt offering”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman holocauste, Old French holocauste, olocauste (modern French holocaust), from Late Latin holocaustum, from Ancient Greek ὁλόκαυστον (holókauston), the n… The correct English form is holocaust, spelled H-O-L-O-C-A-U-S-T.
Definition
- 1An offering or sacrifice to a deity that is completely burned to ashes.
- 2A complete or large offering or sacrifice.
- 3Complete destruction by fire; also, the thing so destroyed.
- 4Extensive destruction of a group of animals or (especially) people; a large-scale massacre or slaughter.
- 5Alternative letter-case form of Holocaust (“the systematic mass murder (democide or genocide) of Jews (and, more broadly, of disabled people, homosexuals, Romanis, Slavs, and others) perpetrated by Nazi Germany shortly before and during World War II”); hence, the state-sponsored mass murder of a particular group of people in society.
Etymology
The noun is derived from Middle English holocaust (“burnt offering”) [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman holocauste, Old French holocauste, olocauste (modern French holocaust), from Late Latin holocaustum, from Ancient Greek ὁλόκαυστον (holókauston), the neuter form of ὁλόκαυστος (holókaustos, “wholly burnt”), from ὅλος (hólos, “entire, whole”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *solh₂- (“whole”)) + καυστός (kaustós, “burnt”) (from καίω (kaíō, “to burn, burn up”); further etymology uncertain, possibly from Proto-Indo-European *keh₂w-). The verb is derived from the noun. As regards verb sense 3 (“to subject (a group of people) to a holocaust”), compare the use of genocide as a verb.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hholocaust,hloocaust,holcoaust,hollocaust,holoacust,holocasut,holocausst,holocaustt,holocauts,holoccaust,holocuast,hoolcaust,ohlocaust
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of holocaust - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "holocaust"?
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Using “holocaust”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-O-L-O-C-A-U-S-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈhɒl.ə(ʊ)ˌkɔːst/ (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
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.