masochism
/ˈmæs.ə.kɪ.zəm/
"masochism" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“masochism” is uncommon English (frequency #58,180 among 36,575 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #58,180
- frequency rank, English
- 36,575
- “M” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The (often sexual) enjoyment of receiving pain or humiliation.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | masochism |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmæs.ə.kɪ.zəm/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #58,180 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “masochism” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
masochism is uncommon English at frequency #58,180 among 36,575 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈmæs.ə.kɪ.zəm/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The (often sexual) enjoyment of receiving pain or humiliation.".
masochism has no tracked misspelling variants, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From German Masochismus, coined alongside Sadismus in 1886 by Richard von Krafft-Ebing in his book Psychopathia Sexualis. Named after Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, whose novel "Venus in Furs" explores a sadomasochistic relationship, + -ism. The correct English form is masochism, spelled M-A-S-O-C-H-I-S-M.
Definition
- 1The (often sexual) enjoyment of receiving pain or humiliation.
Etymology
From German Masochismus, coined alongside Sadismus in 1886 by Richard von Krafft-Ebing in his book Psychopathia Sexualis. Named after Leopold von Sacher-Masoch, whose novel "Venus in Furs" explores a sadomasochistic relationship, + -ism.
Synonyms
Antonyms
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); 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 “masochism”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-A-S-O-C-H-I-S-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmæs.ə.kɪ.zəm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.