hyperventilate

verb

"hyperventilate" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“hyperventilate” is an uncommon English word, ranked #90,561 in English word frequency and used as a verb.

#90,561
frequency rank, English
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To breathe quickly and deeply, especially at an abnormally rapid rate.

Key facts for hyperventilate
PropertyValue
Headwordhyperventilate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters14
Frequency rank#90,561
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “hyperventilate” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). hyperventilate lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for hyperventilate is 14 letters long, classified as a verb. Corpus data places it at rank #90,561 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "To breathe quickly and deeply, especially at an abnormally rapid rate.".

No misspelling variants are generated for hyperventilate in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From hyper- + ventilate. The correct English form is hyperventilate, spelled H-Y-P-E-R-V-E-N-T-I-L-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To breathe quickly and deeply, especially at an abnormally rapid rate.

Etymology

From hyper- + ventilate.

Synonyms

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

How do you spell "hyperventilate"?
"hyperventilate" is spelled H-Y-P-E-R-V-E-N-T-I-L-A-T-E.
What does "hyperventilate" mean?
As a verb, "hyperventilate" means: To breathe quickly and deeply, especially at an abnormally rapid rate.
What is the origin of the word "hyperventilate"?
From hyper- + ventilate. 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.

Using “hyperventilate”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is H-Y-P-E-R-V-E-N-T-I-L-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list