hypersonic
"hypersonic" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hypersonic” is uncommon English (frequency #51,169 among 2,646 “H” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #51,169
- frequency rank, English
- 2,646
- “H” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of a speed, equal to, or greater than, or capable of achieving, five times the speed of sound.
Corpus desk
Index EN-hypersonic · hypersonic · English
hypersonic · rank #51,169 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #51,169
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,646
- PHOTO-FINISH hydrostatic
Nearest frequency peer: hydrostatic (-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 “hypersonic”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- hillier
hillier
48,837 corpus weight
- hosed
hosed
48,835 corpus weight
- Hutchings
Hutchings
48,834 corpus weight
- hydrostatic
hydrostatic
48,833 corpus weight
- hypersonic
hypersonic
48,832 corpus weight
- icecream
icecream
48,828 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “hypersonic” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | hypersonic |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #51,169 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “hypersonic” in English
Rare enough to double-check
hypersonic is uncommon English at frequency #51,169 among 2,646 “H” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for hypersonic, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From hyper- + sonic. Doublet of supersonic. The correct English form is hypersonic, spelled H-Y-P-E-R-S-O-N-I-C.
Definition
- 1Of a speed, equal to, or greater than, or capable of achieving, five times the speed of sound.
- 2Of a speed, far enough above the speed of sound as to cause significant differences in behaviour due to chemical reactions or dissociation of the air.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how hypersonic appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
He said there was worry among intelligence and military officials that China or Russia could be experimenting with hypersonic technology.
Etymology
From hyper- + sonic. Doublet of supersonic.
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); 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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "hypersonic", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).