kidnapper
/ˈkɪdnæpɚ/
"kidnapper" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“kidnapper” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #38,462 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #38,462
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person who kidnaps someone.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | kidnapper |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkɪdnæpɚ/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #38,462 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “kidnapper” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for kidnapper is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkɪdnæpɚ/. Corpus data places it at rank #38,462 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A person who kidnaps someone.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for kidnapper, with forms such as "ikdnapper", "kdinapper", and "kidanpper". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From kidnap + -er. The correct English form is kidnapper, spelled K-I-D-N-A-P-P-E-R.
Definition
- 1A person who kidnaps someone.
Etymology
From kidnap + -er.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ikdnapper,kdinapper,kidanpper,kiddnapper,kidnapepr,kidnaper,kidnapperr,kidnappre,kidnnapper,kidnpaper,kindapper,kkidnapper
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of kidnapper - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 “kidnapper”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is K-I-D-N-A-P-P-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkɪdnæpɚ/ (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.