injun

/ˈɪn.dʒən/

//ˈɪn.dʒən// noun

"injun" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“injun” is uncommon English (frequency #87,401 among 2,140 “I” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#87,401
frequency rank, English
2,140
“I” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A Native American.

Corpus desk

Index EN-injun · injun · English

injun · rank #87,401 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #87,401
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,140
  • PHOTO-FINISH inhabitable

Nearest frequency peer: inhabitable (-2 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 “injun”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for injun
PropertyValue
Headwordinjun
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɪn.dʒən/
Letters5
Frequency rank#87,401
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “injun” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).injunfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “inhabitable” (#87,399), “insincerity” (#87,403), “inundate” (#87,406). Among 2,140 “I” headwords, “injun” is #87,401. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

injun is uncommon English at frequency #87,401 among 2,140 “I” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɪn.dʒən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A Native American.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for injun, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: Variant of Indian. Compare Cajun. First attested in the 1805–15. The correct English form is injun, spelled I-N-J-U-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A Native American.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. We'll kill ourselves an injun, and maybe two or three!
  2. You want a problem, well I guess we got one now / I really don't know how / There's injuns over every goddamn hill

Etymology

Variant of Indian. Compare Cajun. First attested in the 1805–15.

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 "injun"?
"injun" is spelled I-N-J-U-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɪn.dʒən/.
What does "injun" mean?
As a noun, "injun" means: A Native American.
How do you pronounce "injun"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "injun" is /ˈɪn.dʒən/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "injun"?
Variant of Indian. Compare Cajun. First attested in the 1805–15. 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 "injun", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list