maniac
/ˈmeɪ.niˌæk/
"maniac" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“maniac” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #21,854 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #21,854
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An insane person, especially one who suffers from a mania.
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 | maniac |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmeɪ.niˌæk/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #21,854 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “maniac” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for maniac is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmeɪ.niˌæk/. Corpus data places it at rank #21,854 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 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for maniac, with forms such as "amniac", "mainac", and "manaic". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Maria", "manic", "Matic", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From mania + -ac. Borrowed from French maniaque, from Late Latin maniacus, from Ancient Greek μανιακός (maniakós), adjectival form of μανία (manía, “madness”). Compare manic. The correct English form is maniac, spelled M-A-N-I-A-C.
Definition
- 1An insane person, especially one who suffers from a mania.
- 2A fanatic, a person with an obsession.
- 3Ellipsis of sex maniac.
Etymology
From mania + -ac. Borrowed from French maniaque, from Late Latin maniacus, from Ancient Greek μανιακός (maniakós), adjectival form of μανία (manía, “madness”). Compare manic.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: amniac,mainac,manaic,maniacc,manica,manniac,mmaniac,mnaiac
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of maniac - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “maniac”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-A-N-I-A-C - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmeɪ.niˌæk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Maria” - see the side-by-side comparison. maniac vs Maria
- 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.