industrial espionage
/ɪnˈdʌstɹɪəl ˈɛspiəˌnɑːʒ/
"industrial-espionage" is a 19-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“industrial espionage” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 20
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The use of clandestine methods to acquire secret information for commercial advantage.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | industrial espionage |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɪnˈdʌstɹɪəl ˈɛspiəˌnɑːʒ/ |
| Letters | 20 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “industrial espionage” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
industrial espionage is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɪnˈdʌstɹɪəl ˈɛspiəˌnɑːʒ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
industrial espionage doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From industrial + espionage. The correct English form is industrial espionage, spelled I-N-D-U-S-T-R-I-A-L- -E-S-P-I-O-N-A-G-E.
Definition
- 1The use of clandestine methods to acquire secret information for commercial advantage.
- 2Spying by an employer on labor union activities of employees and on labor unions.
- 3Spying on industrial activities for military advantage.
Etymology
From industrial + espionage.
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “industrial espionage”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-N-D-U-S-T-R-I-A-L- -E-S-P-I-O-N-A-G-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪnˈdʌstɹɪəl ˈɛspiəˌnɑːʒ/ (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
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.