malignancy
/məˈlɪɡ.nən.si/
"malignancy" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“malignancy” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #44,321 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #44,321
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 16
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The state of being malignant or diseased.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | malignancy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /məˈlɪɡ.nən.si/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #44,321 |
| Misspellings tracked | 16 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “malignancy” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for malignancy is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /məˈlɪɡ.nən.si/. Corpus data places it at rank #44,321 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for malignancy, with forms such as "amlignancy", "mailgnancy", and "malginancy". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "malignant", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From malignant + -cy or malign + -ancy or Latin malignantia. The correct English form is malignancy, spelled M-A-L-I-G-N-A-N-C-Y.
Definition
- 1The state of being malignant or diseased.
- 2A malignant cancer; specifically, any neoplasm that is invasive or otherwise not benign.
- 3That which is malign; evil, depravity, malevolence.
Etymology
From malignant + -cy or malign + -ancy or Latin malignantia.
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: amlignancy,mailgnancy,malginancy,maliganncy,maliggnancy,malignacny,malignanccy,malignancyy,malignanncy,malignanyc,malignnacy,malignnancy,malingancy,mallignancy,mlaignancy,mmalignancy
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of malignancy - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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
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Using “malignancy”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-A-L-I-G-N-A-N-C-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /məˈlɪɡ.nən.si/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “malignant” - see the side-by-side comparison. malignancy vs malignant
- 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.