mania

/ˈmeɪ.ni.ə/

//ˈmeɪ.ni.ə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"mania" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“mania” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #16,276. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#16,276
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Violent derangement of mind; madness; insanity.

Corpus desk

Index EN-mania · mania · English

mania · rank #16,276 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #16,276
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH medically

Nearest frequency peer: medically (+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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “mania”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

mania vs MIA
0% similar
mania vs many
60% similar
mania vs mini
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for mania
PropertyValue
Headwordmania
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmeɪ.ni.ə/
Letters5
Frequency rank#16,276
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “mania”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).manialands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “medically” (#16,277), “Lowell” (#16,274), “lodging” (#16,273). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “mania” is #16,276. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around mania (IPA /ˈmeɪ.ni.ə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #16,276 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for mania, with forms such as "amnia", "maina", and "manai". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "MIA", "many", "mini", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin mania, from Ancient Greek μανία (manía, “madness”). The correct English form is mania, spelled M-A-N-I-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Violent derangement of mind; madness; insanity.
  2. 2
    Excessive or unreasonable desire; insane passion affecting one or many people; fanaticism.
  3. 3
    The state of abnormally elevated or irritable mood, arousal, and/or energy levels.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. One of the manias of the present day, which especially excites my spleen, is the locomotive rage which seems to possess all ranks—that necessity of going out of town in the summer...
  2. Dotcom mania was slow in coming to higher education, but now it has the venerable industry firmly in its grip. Since the launch early last year of Udacity and Coursera, two Silicon Valley start-ups offering free education through MOOCs, massive open online courses, the ivory towers of academia have been shaken to their foundations.

Etymology

Borrowed from Latin mania, from Ancient Greek μανία (manía, “madness”).

This word in other languages

manía(Español)manie(Français)Manie(Deutsch)insanidade(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • amnia
  • maina
  • manai
  • mannia
  • mmania
  • mnaia

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of mania - 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.

amnia2maina2manai2mannia1mmania1mnaia2
Edit distance from "mania"

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 "mania"?
"mania" is spelled M-A-N-I-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmeɪ.ni.ə/.
What does "mania" mean?
As a noun, "mania" means: Violent derangement of mind; madness; insanity.
What words are commonly confused with "mania"?
"mania" is commonly confused with "MIA", "many", "mini". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "mania"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mania" is /ˈmeɪ.ni.ə/. 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 "mania"?
Borrowed from Latin mania, from Ancient Greek μανία (manía, “madness”). 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 "mania", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Lenin#16,272Joe's#16,262Orion#16,292parry#16,295

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

jams6 variantspatio6 variantsHeidi6 variantsgran6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list