hyperventilate

verb

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

The verdict

“hyperventilate” is uncommon English (frequency #90,561 among 2,646 “H” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#90,561
frequency rank, English
2,646
“H” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To breathe quickly and deeply, especially at an abnormally rapid rate.

Corpus desk

Index EN-hyperventilate · hyperventilate · English

hyperventilate · rank #90,561 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #90,561
  • LEN-MEGA 14 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,646
  • PHOTO-FINISH hypothermic

Nearest frequency peer: hypothermic (+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 “hyperventilate”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for hyperventilate
PropertyValue
Headwordhyperventilate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters14
Frequency rank#90,561
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “hyperventilate” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).hyperventilatefalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “hypothermic” (#90,562), “hurtle” (#90,558), “impels” (#90,569). Among 2,646 “H” headwords, “hyperventilate” is #90,561. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

hyperventilate is uncommon English at frequency #90,561 among 2,646 “H” headwords, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "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.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. When I tried it, I hyperventilated.
  2. Sometimes her prose hyperventilates ("Once, years ago, his and N.'s love for each other had glowed like phosphorescent fire on the surfaces of their bodies"), and she has a weakness for epiphanies ("There was a man, no longer young, though not yet old, who, traveling alone in northern Europe, began to feel that his soul was being drained slowly, almost se…

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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "hyperventilate", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 14 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list