lachrymatory
/ˈlækɹɪmətəɹi/
"lachrymatory" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lachrymatory” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 12
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Pertaining to or causing tears.
Corpus desk
Index EN-lachrymatory · lachrymatory · English
lachrymatory · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "L" 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 | lachrymatory |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈlækɹɪmətəɹi/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “lachrymatory” in English
Rare enough to double-check
lachrymatory is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈlækɹɪmətəɹi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Pertaining to or causing tears.".
lachrymatory doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin lachrymātōrius. By surface analysis, lachrymate + -ory. The correct English form is lachrymatory, spelled L-A-C-H-R-Y-M-A-T-O-R-Y.
Definition
- 1Pertaining to or causing tears.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how lachrymatory appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
1919: It is sheer affectation to lacerate a man with the poisonous fragment of a bursting shell and to boggle at making his eyes water by means of lachrymatory gas. — Winston Churchill, "1919 War Office Memorandum"
Etymology
From Latin lachrymātōrius. By surface analysis, lachrymate + -ory.
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.