hydrogen sulfide

/ˈhaɪdɹədʒ(ə)n ˈsʌlfaɪd/

//ˈhaɪdɹədʒ(ə)n ˈsʌlfaɪd// noun

"hydrogen-sulfide" is a 15-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“hydrogen sulfide” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
16
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A toxic gas, H₂S, smelling like rotten eggs and used in analytical chemistry and industry.

Key facts for hydrogen sulfide
PropertyValue
Headwordhydrogen sulfide
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈhaɪdɹədʒ(ə)n ˈsʌlfaɪd/
Letters16
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “hydrogen sulfide” sits in English frequency

hydrogen sulfide falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

hydrogen sulfide is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈhaɪdɹədʒ(ə)n ˈsʌlfaɪd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A toxic gas, H₂S, smelling like rotten eggs and used in analytical chemistry and industry.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for hydrogen sulfide, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is hydrogen sulfide, spelled H-Y-D-R-O-G-E-N- -S-U-L-F-I-D-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A toxic gas, H₂S, smelling like rotten eggs and used in analytical chemistry and industry.

Synonyms

rotten egg gasswamp gas

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "hydrogen sulfide"?
"hydrogen sulfide" is spelled H-Y-D-R-O-G-E-N- -S-U-L-F-I-D-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈhaɪdɹədʒ(ə)n ˈsʌlfaɪd/.
What does "hydrogen sulfide" mean?
As a noun, "hydrogen sulfide" means: A toxic gas, H₂S, smelling like rotten eggs and used in analytical chemistry and industry.
How do you pronounce "hydrogen sulfide"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hydrogen sulfide" is /ˈhaɪdɹədʒ(ə)n ˈsʌlfaɪd/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "hydrogen sulfide" come from?
"hydrogen sulfide" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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.

Using “hydrogen sulfide”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is H-Y-D-R-O-G-E-N- -S-U-L-F-I-D-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈhaɪdɹədʒ(ə)n ˈsʌlfaɪd/ (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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list