malefaction

noun

"malefaction" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“malefaction” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
11
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A crime, an offense, an evil deed.

Key facts for malefaction
PropertyValue
Headwordmalefaction
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters11
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “malefaction” sits in English frequency

malefaction falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for malefaction is 11 letters long, classified as a noun. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A crime, an offense, an evil deed.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for malefaction, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin malefaciō. The correct English form is malefaction, spelled M-A-L-E-F-A-C-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    A crime, an offense, an evil deed.

Etymology

From Latin malefaciō.

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 "malefaction"?
"malefaction" is spelled M-A-L-E-F-A-C-T-I-O-N.
What does "malefaction" mean?
As a noun, "malefaction" means: A crime, an offense, an evil deed.
What is the origin of the word "malefaction"?
From Latin malefaciō. 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.

Using “malefaction”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is M-A-L-E-F-A-C-T-I-O-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list