iridescence
/ˌɪɹ.ɪˈdɛs.əns/
"iridescence" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“iridescence” is uncommon English (frequency #77,806 among 2,140 “I” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #77,806
- frequency rank, English
- 2,140
- “I” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The condition or state of being iridescent; exhibition of colors like those of the rainbow; a prismatic play of color.
Corpus desk
Index EN-iridescence · iridescence · English
iridescence · rank #77,806 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #77,806
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,140
- PHOTO-FINISH interposed
Nearest frequency peer: interposed (-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 “iridescence”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- interdepart…
interdepartmental
22,199 corpus weight
- interdimens…
interdimensional
22,198 corpus weight
- interposed
interposed
22,197 corpus weight
- iridescence
iridescence
22,195 corpus weight
- Jaap
Jaap
22,191 corpus weight
- jacaranda
jacaranda
22,189 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “iridescence” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | iridescence |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌɪɹ.ɪˈdɛs.əns/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #77,806 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “iridescence” in English
Rare enough to double-check
iridescence is uncommon English at frequency #77,806 among 2,140 “I” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌɪɹ.ɪˈdɛs.əns/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for iridescence, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is iridescence, spelled I-R-I-D-E-S-C-E-N-C-E.
Definition
- 1The condition or state of being iridescent; exhibition of colors like those of the rainbow; a prismatic play of color.
- 2Any shimmer of glittering and changeable colors.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "iridescence", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).