intoxicate
/ɪnˈtɒksɪkeɪt/
"intoxicate" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“intoxicate” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To stupefy by doping with chemical substances such as alcohol.
Corpus desk
Index EN-intoxicate · intoxicate · English
intoxicate · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "I" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | intoxicate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɪnˈtɒksɪkeɪt/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “intoxicate” in English
Rare enough to double-check
intoxicate is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ɪnˈtɒksɪkeɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for intoxicate, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: First attested in 1450, in Middle English; from Middle English intoxicaten, from intoxicat(e) (“(of a weapon or drug) smeared, anointed or filled with poison; (of a human being, animal) poisoned, intoxicated”, also used as the past participle of intoxicaten… The correct English form is intoxicate, spelled I-N-T-O-X-I-C-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To stupefy by doping with chemical substances such as alcohol.
- 2To excite to enthusiasm or madness.
Etymology
First attested in 1450, in Middle English; from Middle English intoxicaten, from intoxicat(e) (“(of a weapon or drug) smeared, anointed or filled with poison; (of a human being, animal) poisoned, intoxicated”, also used as the past participle of intoxicaten) + -en (verb-forming suffix), borrowed from intoxicātus, perfect passive participle of intoxicō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from Late Latin toxicō (“to smear, anoint with poison”), from toxicus (“toxic, poisonous”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix), from Ancient Greek τοξικόν (toxikón). By surface analysis, in- + toxic + -ate.
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.