leukemia
/luːˈkiːmi.ə/
"leukemia" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“leukemia” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,851 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #15,851
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of a class of types of cancer affecting the blood cells, especially the white blood cells (usually with massive leukocytosis), and the blood cell–forming (hematopoietic) tissues.
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 | leukemia |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /luːˈkiːmi.ə/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #15,851 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “leukemia” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for leukemia is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /luːˈkiːmi.ə/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,851 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Any of a class of types of cancer affecting the blood cells, especially the white blood cells (usually with massive leukocytosis), and the blood cell–forming (hematopoietic) tissues.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for leukemia, with forms such as "elukemia", "lekuemia", and "leuekmia". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "leukaemia", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From German Leukämie, from Ancient Greek λευκός (leukós, “white”) + αἷμα (haîma, “blood”). By surface analysis, leuk- + -emia. The correct English form is leukemia, spelled L-E-U-K-E-M-I-A.
Definition
- 1Any of a class of types of cancer affecting the blood cells, especially the white blood cells (usually with massive leukocytosis), and the blood cell–forming (hematopoietic) tissues.
Etymology
From German Leukämie, from Ancient Greek λευκός (leukós, “white”) + αἷμα (haîma, “blood”). By surface analysis, leuk- + -emia.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: elukemia,lekuemia,leuekmia,leukeima,leukemai,leukemmia,leukkemia,leukmeia,lleukemia,luekemia
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of leukemia - 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
How do you spell "leukemia"?
What does "leukemia" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "leukemia"?
How do you pronounce "leukemia"?
What is the origin of the word "leukemia"?
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Using “leukemia”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-E-U-K-E-M-I-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /luːˈkiːmi.ə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “leukaemia” - see the side-by-side comparison. leukemia vs leukaemia
- 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.