lieutenant colonel
/lɛfˈtɛ.nənt ˈkɜː.nəl/
"lieutenant-colonel" is a 17-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lieutenant colonel” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 18
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An army officer in many countries, ranking below a colonel and above a major. Often the commander of a battalion or the executive officer of a regiment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lieutenant colonel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /lɛfˈtɛ.nənt ˈkɜː.nəl/ |
| Letters | 18 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lieutenant colonel” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
lieutenant colonel is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /lɛfˈtɛ.nənt ˈkɜː.nəl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for lieutenant colonel in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
No explicit etymology string is stored for this entry, so any spelling logic here comes from how the word's sounds map to letters, not a documented origin story. The correct English form is lieutenant colonel, spelled L-I-E-U-T-E-N-A-N-T- -C-O-L-O-N-E-L.
Definition
- 1An army officer in many countries, ranking below a colonel and above a major. Often the commander of a battalion or the executive officer of a regiment.
- 2An English-language term used as a general categorization for military officer ranks that are the equivalent of lieutenant colonel, the relative rank level is found in most countries.
- 3An officer in the United States Marine Corps or Royal Marines, of equivalent rank to their counterparts in the army.
- 4An officer in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve, or Air National Guard, ranking below colonel and above major. Often the commander of a squadron or the executive officer of a wing.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “lieutenant colonel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-I-E-U-T-E-N-A-N-T- -C-O-L-O-N-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /lɛfˈtɛ.nənt ˈkɜː.nəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.