masturbate

/ˈmæ.stə.beɪt/

//ˈmæ.stə.beɪt// verb

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

"masturbate" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“masturbate” has 15 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #23,033. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#23,033
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
15
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To stimulate oneself sexually, especially by use of one’s hand or a sex toy made for this purpose, often to the point of ejaculation or orgasm.

Corpus desk

Index EN-masturbate · masturbate · English

masturbate · rank #23,033 · 15 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #23,033
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH Massey

Nearest frequency peer: Massey (-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 “masturbate”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “masturbate” 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
Key facts for masturbate
PropertyValue
Headwordmasturbate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈmæ.stə.beɪt/
Letters10
Frequency rank#23,033
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “masturbate”

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).masturbatelands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Massey” (#23,032), “mathematically” (#23,034), “marquee” (#23,031). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “masturbate” is #23,033. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around masturbate (IPA /ˈmæ.stə.beɪt/), averb. Corpus frequency is #23,033 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for masturbate, with forms such as "amsturbate", "massturbate", and "mastrubate". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: A back-formation from masturbation, or else from Latin masturbātus (see -ate), past participle of masturbor. Further derivation of the Latin verb is uncertain; see masturbor for more. The correct English form is masturbate, spelled M-A-S-T-U-R-B-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To stimulate oneself sexually, especially by use of one’s hand or a sex toy made for this purpose, often to the point of ejaculation or orgasm.
  2. 2
    To manually or by other means than one's own genitals stimulate someone else's genitals sexually.
  3. 3
    To stimulate or please oneself by means of anything, not necessarily sexual, that does not get them anywhere; something that wastes their time; something that does not help others or achieve any important goal.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. I'm looking for some hot videos to masturbate to.
  2. The primary function of a souvenir fetish is so that the offender can relive the actual event within the context of the fantasy, usually while masturbating to maintain sexual arousal and achieve orgasm (Canter et al., 2004).

Etymology

A back-formation from masturbation, or else from Latin masturbātus (see -ate), past participle of masturbor. Further derivation of the Latin verb is uncertain; see masturbor for more.

Synonyms

bash one outbash the bishopbatebeat offbeat the meatchoke the chickencrank the hogdiddlefapflick one's beanflog the donggoonhave fun with Dick and Janejack itjack offjerk offjilljill offjork itknock one offknock one outplay with oneselfpolish the polerub one outslap the salamispank the monkeystroke ittickle the sausagetoss offwankwax the dolphinwhack offabusebeat itcrank one outfrigjerk itjerk the gherkinmasturbatemastuprateplay pocket poolpleasure oneselfself-abuseself-polluteservice oneselfskeetstroketosstouch oneselfwank off

This word in other languages

masturbarse(Español)masturber(Français)masturbieren(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • amsturbate
  • massturbate
  • mastrubate
  • mastturbate
  • mastubrate
  • masturabte
  • masturbaet
  • masturbatte
  • masturbbate
  • masturbtae
  • masturrbate
  • masutrbate
  • matsurbate
  • mmasturbate
  • msaturbate

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of masturbate - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

amsturbate2massturbate1mastrubate2mastturbate1mastubrate2masturabte2masturbaet2masturbatte1
Edit distance from "masturbate"

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 "masturbate"?
"masturbate" is spelled M-A-S-T-U-R-B-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmæ.stə.beɪt/.
What does "masturbate" mean?
As a verb, "masturbate" means: To stimulate oneself sexually, especially by use of one’s hand or a sex toy made for this purpose, often to the point of ejaculation or orgasm.
What are common misspellings of "masturbate"?
Common misspellings include "amsturbate", "massturbate", "mastrubate", "mastturbate", "mastubrate". The correct spelling is "masturbate".
How do you pronounce "masturbate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "masturbate" is /ˈmæ.stə.beɪt/. 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 "masturbate"?
A back-formation from masturbation, or else from Latin masturbātus (see -ate), past participle of masturbor. Further derivation of the Latin verb is uncertain; see masturbor for more. 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 "masturbate", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

nutritious#23,052insolvency#23,009hopelessly#22,997reconciled#23,079

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

hydration15 variantsgeothermal15 variantsstreamline15 variantsunbeatable15 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list