lexis
/ˈlɛksɪs/
"lexis" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lexis” is uncommon English (frequency #56,244 among 2,297 “L” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #56,244
- frequency rank, English
- 2,297
- “L” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The set of all words and phrases in a language; any unified subset of words from a particular language.
Corpus desk
Index EN-lexis · lexis · English
lexis · rank #56,244 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #56,244
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,297
- PHOTO-FINISH letterpress
Nearest frequency peer: letterpress (-1 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 “lexis”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Legg
Legg
43,760 corpus weight
- lesbianism
lesbianism
43,759 corpus weight
- letterpress
letterpress
43,758 corpus weight
- lexis
lexis
43,757 corpus weight
- lignin
lignin
43,756 corpus weight
- limber
limber
43,755 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “lexis” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lexis |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈlɛksɪs/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #56,244 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “lexis” in English
Rare enough to double-check
lexis is uncommon English at frequency #56,244 among 2,297 “L” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈlɛksɪs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for lexis, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek λέξις (léxis, “speech, word”). The correct English form is lexis, spelled L-E-X-I-S.
Definition
- 1The set of all words and phrases in a language; any unified subset of words from a particular language.
- 2Words, collocations, and common phrases in a language; vocabulary and word combinations.
- 3The vocabulary used by a writer.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how lexis appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Thus, alongside current lexis, words and senses now obsolete find a place in a dictionary on historical principles.
By the 1980s, English language teachers generally had begun to realize that there had been a neglect of lexis in teaching methods and coursebooks. […] The basic truth that without vocabulary or lexis we can't express anything had to be restated and a new approach to teaching lexis was needed.
Etymology
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek λέξις (léxis, “speech, word”).
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 "lexis", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).