laconic

/ləˈkɒnɪk/

//ləˈkɒnɪk// adj

"laconic" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“laconic” is uncommon English (frequency #60,225 among 2,297 “L” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#60,225
frequency rank, English
2,297
“L” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Communicative through the use of as few words as possible.

Corpus desk

Index EN-laconic · laconic · English

laconic · rank #60,225 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #60,225
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,297
  • PHOTO-FINISH Kyla

Nearest frequency peer: Kyla (-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 “laconic”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “laconic” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for laconic
PropertyValue
Headwordlaconic
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ləˈkɒnɪk/
Letters7
Frequency rank#60,225
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “laconic” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).laconicfalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “Kyla” (#60,223), “lamentation” (#60,227), “Laotian” (#60,228). Among 2,297 “L” headwords, “laconic” is #60,225. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

laconic is uncommon English at frequency #60,225 among 2,297 “L” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ləˈkɒnɪk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

laconic doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin Lacōnicus (“Spartan”), from Ancient Greek Λακωνικός (Lakōnikós, “Laconian”). Laconia was the region inhabited and ruled by the Spartans, who were known for their brevity in speech. The correct English form is laconic, spelled L-A-C-O-N-I-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    Communicative through the use of as few words as possible.
  2. 2
    Communicating through the use of as few words as possible.
  3. 3
    Laidback; casual; not intense.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how laconic appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Near-synonym: brief
  2. Near-synonyms: taciturn, untalkative, terse, quiet, spartan

Etymology

From Latin Lacōnicus (“Spartan”), from Ancient Greek Λακωνικός (Lakōnikós, “Laconian”). Laconia was the region inhabited and ruled by the Spartans, who were known for their brevity in speech.

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

How do you spell "laconic"?
"laconic" is spelled L-A-C-O-N-I-C. The IPA pronunciation is /ləˈkɒnɪk/.
What does "laconic" mean?
As an adjective, "laconic" means: Communicative through the use of as few words as possible.
How do you pronounce "laconic"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "laconic" is /ləˈkɒnɪk/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "laconic"?
From Latin Lacōnicus (“Spartan”), from Ancient Greek Λακωνικός (Lakōnikós, “Laconian”). Laconia was the region inhabited and ruled by the Spartans, who were known for their brevity in speech. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "laconic", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list