hydroponic

/ˌhaɪdɹəˈpɒnɪk/

//ˌhaɪdɹəˈpɒnɪk// adj

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

"hydroponic" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“hydroponic” is uncommon English (frequency #58,091 among 2,646 “H” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#58,091
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of a plant; pertaining to or grown using hydroponics, a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions in water, without soil.

Corpus desk

Index EN-hydroponic · hydroponic · English

hydroponic · rank #58,091 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #58,091
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH hyperbaric

Nearest frequency peer: hyperbaric (+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 “hydroponic”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for hydroponic
PropertyValue
Headwordhydroponic
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˌhaɪdɹəˈpɒnɪk/
Letters10
Frequency rank#58,091
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “hydroponic” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).hydroponicfalls 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: “hyperbaric” (#58,092), “Humberside” (#58,089), “hyperlink” (#58,093). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “hydroponic” is #58,091. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

hydroponic is uncommon English at frequency #58,091 among 2,646 “H” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˌhaɪdɹəˈpɒnɪk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Of a plant; pertaining to or grown using hydroponics, a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions in water, without soil.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for hydroponic, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Back-formation from hydroponics. By surface analysis, hydro- (“water”) + Ancient Greek πόνος (pónos, “work, labour”) + -ic. The correct English form is hydroponic, spelled H-Y-D-R-O-P-O-N-I-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of a plant; pertaining to or grown using hydroponics, a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions in water, without soil.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how hydroponic appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Sid was now living in a small commune in the Shetland Islands, where he and his fellow communards were dedicated to the growing of implausibly large hydroponic onions.
  2. She had been offended because he had seen her every day for ten days, then when she’d finally obtained 50 grams of genetically enhanced hydroponic marijuana for him[…]

Etymology

Back-formation from hydroponics. By surface analysis, hydro- (“water”) + Ancient Greek πόνος (pónos, “work, labour”) + -ic.

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 "hydroponic"?
"hydroponic" is spelled H-Y-D-R-O-P-O-N-I-C. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌhaɪdɹəˈpɒnɪk/.
What does "hydroponic" mean?
As an adjective, "hydroponic" means: Of a plant; pertaining to or grown using hydroponics, a method of growing plants using mineral nutrient solutions in water, without soil.
How do you pronounce "hydroponic"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "hydroponic" is /ˌhaɪdɹəˈpɒnɪk/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "hydroponic"?
Back-formation from hydroponics. By surface analysis, hydro- (“water”) + Ancient Greek πόνος (pónos, “work, labour”) + -ic. 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 "hydroponic", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

hyperbaric#58,092Humberside#58,089Hufflepuff#58,086homoerotic#58,084

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list