Listerine
"listerine" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Listerine” is uncommon English (frequency #73,380 among 16,425 “L” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #73,380
- frequency rank, English
- 16,425
- “L” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An antiseptic mouthwash.
Corpus desk
Index EN-listerine · Listerine · English
Listerine · rank #73,380 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #73,380
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 16,425
- PHOTO-FINISH limps
Nearest frequency peer: limps (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “Listerine”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Lilia
Lilia
26,624 corpus weight
- limps
limps
26,622 corpus weight
- Listerine
Listerine
26,621 corpus weight
- LMP
LMP
26,620 corpus weight
- loamy
loamy
26,619 corpus weight
- lofted
lofted
26,618 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “Listerine” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Listerine |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #73,380 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Listerine” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
Listerine is uncommon English at frequency #73,380 among 16,425 “L” headwords, classed as aproper noun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An antiseptic mouthwash.".
Listerine doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: Brand name, from Lister + -ine, after the antiseptic pioneer Joseph Lister. The correct English form is Listerine, spelled L-I-S-T-E-R-I-N-E.
Definition
- 1An antiseptic mouthwash.
Etymology
Brand name, from Lister + -ine, after the antiseptic pioneer Joseph Lister.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "Listerine"?
What does "Listerine" mean?
What is the origin of the word "Listerine"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Listerine", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
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.