IQ
/ˌaɪ ˈkjuː/
"iq" is a 2-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“IQ” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #11,406 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #11,406
- frequency rank, English
- 2
- letters
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Initialism of intelligence quotient.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | IQ |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌaɪ ˈkjuː/ |
| Letters | 2 |
| Frequency rank | #11,406 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “IQ” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for IQ is 2 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌaɪ ˈkjuː/. Corpus data places it at rank #11,406 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
IQ has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "is", "it", "IV", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Our source data has no etymology on file for this entry, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct English form is IQ, spelled I-Q.
Definition
- 1Initialism of intelligence quotient.
- 2Initialism of image quality.
- 3Initialism of Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (Inuit traditional knowledge).
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 “IQ”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-Q - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌaɪ ˈkjuː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “is” - see the side-by-side comparison. IQ vs is
- 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.