hypochondriac
/ˌhaɪpəʊˈkɒndɹiæk/
"hypochondriac" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“hypochondriac” is uncommon English (frequency #66,736 among 23,837 “H” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #66,736
- frequency rank, English
- 23,837
- “H” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Related to, or affected by hypochondria.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | hypochondriac |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˌhaɪpəʊˈkɒndɹiæk/ |
| Letters | 13 |
| Frequency rank | #66,736 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “hypochondriac” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
hypochondriac is uncommon English at frequency #66,736 among 23,837 “H” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˌhaɪpəʊˈkɒndɹiæk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for hypochondriac, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French hypocondriaque, from Ancient Greek ὑποχονδριακός (hupokhondriakós, “of the region between the ribs and navel”), from ὑποχόνδριος (hupokhóndrios, “the space between the ribs and the navel”), from ὑπό (hupó, “below”) + χόνδρος (khóndros, “cartilag… The correct English form is hypochondriac, spelled H-Y-P-O-C-H-O-N-D-R-I-A-C.
Definition
- 1Related to, or affected by hypochondria.
- 2Related to, or located in the hypochondrium.
Etymology
From French hypocondriaque, from Ancient Greek ὑποχονδριακός (hupokhondriakós, “of the region between the ribs and navel”), from ὑποχόνδριος (hupokhóndrios, “the space between the ribs and the navel”), from ὑπό (hupó, “below”) + χόνδρος (khóndros, “cartilage”). See also hypochondrium, hypochondria, and Wikipedia at hypochondriasis § Etymology.
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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Using “hypochondriac”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is H-Y-P-O-C-H-O-N-D-R-I-A-C - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌhaɪpəʊˈkɒndɹiæk/ (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
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.