marasmus
/məˈɹæz.məs/
"marasmus" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“marasmus” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 8
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A condition of chronic undernourishment especially in children, caused by a diet deficient in calories or the inability to digest protein and presenting as a severe loss of body weight.
Corpus desk
Index EN-marasmus · marasmus · English
marasmus · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "M" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | marasmus |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /məˈɹæz.məs/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “marasmus” in English
Rare enough to double-check
marasmus is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /məˈɹæz.məs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A condition of chronic undernourishment especially in children, caused by a diet deficient in calories or the inability to digest protein and presenting as a severe loss of body weight.".
Zero misspellings are on record for marasmus in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Late Latin marasmus, from Ancient Greek μᾰρᾰσμός (mărăsmós, “withering”, noun). The correct English form is marasmus, spelled M-A-R-A-S-M-U-S.
Definition
- 1A condition of chronic undernourishment especially in children, caused by a diet deficient in calories or the inability to digest protein and presenting as a severe loss of body weight.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how marasmus appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Indian children are still among the skinniest and shortest on the planet, but they are taller and plumper than were their parents or grandparents, and the signs of gross hunger, such as marasmus, are now rarely seen in nutritional surveys.
Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin marasmus, from Ancient Greek μᾰρᾰσμός (mărăsmós, “withering”, noun).
This word in other languages
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.