masochist
/ˈmæ.səˌkɪst/
"masochist" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“masochist” is an uncommon English word, ranked #56,899 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #56,899
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Someone who enjoys pain or humiliation, or who derives pleasure from harming oneself or being harmed by others.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | masochist |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmæ.səˌkɪst/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #56,899 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “masochist” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for masochist is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmæ.səˌkɪst/. Corpus data places it at rank #56,899 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
masochist doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. 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: Leopold von Sacher-Masoch + -ist. Coined by Richard von Krafft-Ebing and popularized by Freud in relation to sadomasochism. The correct English form is masochist, spelled M-A-S-O-C-H-I-S-T.
Definition
- 1Someone who enjoys pain or humiliation, or who derives pleasure from harming oneself or being harmed by others.
- 2Someone who puts up with teasing.
Etymology
Leopold von Sacher-Masoch + -ist. Coined by Richard von Krafft-Ebing and popularized by Freud in relation to sadomasochism.
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 “masochist”
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-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmæ.səˌkɪst/ (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
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.