malfunction

Name: malfunction, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˌmælˈfʌŋk.ʃən/

//ˌmælˈfʌŋk.ʃən// noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“malfunction” has 18 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #19,891. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#19,891
frequency rank, English: 4,057
“M” headwords: 18
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Faulty functioning.

Corpus desk

Index EN-malfunction · malfunction · English

malfunction · rank #19,891 · 18 variants · 0 confusables

FREQ-MID #19,891
LEN-MEGA 11 letters
VOW-4 4 vowels
CONFUS-0 No pairs
VAR-HIGH 18 variants
BOOK-MID 4,057
PHOTO-FINISH mahogany

Nearest frequency peer: mahogany (-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.

lordship

80,113
Louisa

80,112
mahogany

80,111
malfunction

80,110
mana

80,109
Manson

80,108

What this shows “malfunction” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Key facts for malfunction
Property	Value
Headword	malfunction
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/ˌmælˈfʌŋk.ʃən/
Letters	11
Frequency rank	#19,891
Misspellings tracked	18
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “malfunction”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).malfunctionlands here:

#19,891

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “mahogany” (#19,890), “mana” (#19,892), “Louisa” (#19,889). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “malfunction” is #19,891. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 18 spelling variants around malfunction (IPA /ˌmælˈfʌŋk.ʃən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #19,891 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 18 likely wrong-spelling variants for malfunction, with forms such as "amlfunction", "maflunction", and "malffunction". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From mal- (“bad, incorrect”) + function. The correct English form is malfunction, spelled M-A-L-F-U-N-C-T-I-O-N.

Definition

1
Faulty functioning.
2
Failure to function.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

This weekend, as videos of robotaxi malfunctions began appearing on social media, opponents say they are seeing their fears realized.
A former OceanGate scientific director said the Titan submersible suffered a malfunction six days before imploding in June 2023, killing all five people on board.

Etymology

From mal- (“bad, incorrect”) + function.

This word in other languages

falla(Español)Funktionsstörung(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

amlfunction
maflunction
malffunction
malfnuction
malfucntion
malfuncction
malfunciton
malfuncsion
malfunctino
malfunctionn
malfunctoin
malfuncttion
malfunnction
malfuntcion
mallfunction
malufnction
mlafunction
mmalfunction

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of malfunction - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

Edit distance from "malfunction"

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

How do you spell "malfunction"?

"malfunction" is spelled M-A-L-F-U-N-C-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌmælˈfʌŋk.ʃən/.

What does "malfunction" mean?

As a noun, "malfunction" means: Faulty functioning.

What are common misspellings of "malfunction"?

Common misspellings include "amlfunction", "maflunction", "malffunction", "malfnuction", "malfucntion". The correct spelling is "malfunction".

How do you pronounce "malfunction"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "malfunction" is /ˌmælˈfʌŋk.ʃən/. 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 "malfunction"?

From mal- (“bad, incorrect”) + function. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "malfunction", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

nightingale#19,918 housekeeper#19,859 hardworking#19,852 flourishing#19,839

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (18 here; floor ≥5).

journalistic18 variants purification18 variants discrepancy18 variants commemoration18 variants