leprosy
/ˈlɛpɹəsi/
"leprosy" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“leprosy” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #28,975. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #28,975
- frequency rank, English
- 2,297
- “L” headwords
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae, gradually producing nerve damage and patches of skin necrosis and historically handled by permanently quarantining its sufferers.
Corpus desk
Index EN-leprosy · leprosy · English
leprosy · rank #28,975 · 11 variants · 1 confusable
- FREQ-MID #28,975
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
- VAR-MID 11 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,297
- PHOTO-FINISH lisp
Nearest frequency peer: lisp (+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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “leprosy”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- Klopp
Klopp
71,031 corpus weight
- Lawton
Lawton
71,029 corpus weight
- leprosy
leprosy
71,026 corpus weight
- lisp
lisp
71,024 corpus weight
- locust
locust
71,022 corpus weight
- Lombard
Lombard
71,021 corpus weight
What this shows “leprosy” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | leprosy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈlɛpɹəsi/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #28,975 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “leprosy”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 11 spelling variants around leprosy (IPA /ˈlɛpɹəsi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #28,975 among 2,297 “L” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for leprosy, with forms such as "elprosy", "leporsy", and "lepprosy". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "Leroy", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Norman leprosie, from Middle French leprosie (“leprosy & similar skin diseases”), probably from leprous (“leprous”) + -ie (“-y”) but possibly from Medieval Latin leprōsia (leprōsus + -ia) although this only historically attested in reference to leprosa… The correct English form is leprosy, spelled L-E-P-R-O-S-Y.
Definition
- 1An infectious disease caused by the bacterium Mycobacterium leprae, gradually producing nerve damage and patches of skin necrosis and historically handled by permanently quarantining its sufferers.
- 2Similar contagious skin diseases causing light patches of scaly skin, particularly psoriasis, syphilis, vitiligo, scabies, and (biblical) the various diseases considered "tzaraath" in the Old Testament.
- 3Anything considered similarly permanent, harmful, and communicable, particularly when such a thing should be handled by avoidance or isolation of its victims.
- 4A contagious disease causing similar effects in animals, particularly
- 5A contagious disease causing similar effects in animals, particularly
- 6Synonym of leprosarium: a place for the housing of lepers in isolation from the rest of society.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how leprosy appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Then is it surely a leprosy
The great London doctors knew nothing about leprosy and cared less.
Etymology
From Norman leprosie, from Middle French leprosie (“leprosy & similar skin diseases”), probably from leprous (“leprous”) + -ie (“-y”) but possibly from Medieval Latin leprōsia (leprōsus + -ia) although this only historically attested in reference to leprosariums. The shift of sense from psoriasis to Hansen's disease occurred in large part from the use of λέπρα (lépra) to translate Hebrew צרעת (“tzaraath”) in the Septuagint and its subsequent use in the New Testament and Late Latin.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- elprosy
- leporsy
- lepprosy
- leprossy
- leprosyy
- leproys
- leprrosy
- leprsoy
- lerposy
- lleprosy
- lperosy
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of leprosy - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "leprosy", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).