lubricous

/ˈluːbɹɪkəs/

//ˈluːbɹɪkəs// adj

"lubricous" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“lubricous” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Slimy to the touch.

Corpus desk

Index EN-lubricous · lubricous · English

lubricous · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "L" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for lubricous
PropertyValue
Headwordlubricous
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈluːbɹɪkəs/
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “lubricous” in English

lubricoussits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

lubricous is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈluːbɹɪkəs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Slimy to the touch.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for lubricous, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Latin lūbricus (“slippery”). Doublet of lubricious. The correct English form is lubricous, spelled L-U-B-R-I-C-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Slimy to the touch.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

These source excerpts show how lubricous appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. But my Leech—a leech / Fit to suck blood, with lubricous round rings, / Capaciously expatiative, which make / His little body like a red balloon, / As full of blood as that of hydrogen, / Sucked from men's hearts; […]

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin lūbricus (“slippery”). Doublet of lubricious.

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

How do you spell "lubricous"?
"lubricous" is spelled L-U-B-R-I-C-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈluːbɹɪkəs/.
What does "lubricous" mean?
As an adjective, "lubricous" means: Slimy to the touch.
How do you pronounce "lubricous"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "lubricous" is /ˈluːbɹɪkəs/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "lubricous"?
Learned borrowing from Latin lūbricus (“slippery”). Doublet of lubricious. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list