maudlin
/ˈmɔːd.lɪn/
"maudlin" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“maudlin” is uncommon English (frequency #60,269 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #60,269
- frequency rank, English
- 4,057
- “M” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The Magdalene; Mary Magdalene.
Corpus desk
Index EN-maudlin · maudlin · English
maudlin · rank #60,269 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #60,269
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,057
- PHOTO-FINISH Maugham
Nearest frequency peer: Maugham (+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.
Long-tail ranks near “maudlin”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- marketabili…
marketability
39,736 corpus weight
- Massoud
Massoud
39,735 corpus weight
- mati
mati
39,734 corpus weight
- maudlin
maudlin
39,732 corpus weight
- Maugham
Maugham
39,731 corpus weight
- Maximo
Maximo
39,730 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “maudlin” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | maudlin |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmɔːd.lɪn/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #60,269 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “maudlin” in English
Rare enough to double-check
maudlin is uncommon English at frequency #60,269 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈmɔːd.lɪn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No misspelling variants are generated for maudlin in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English Maudelen, a dialectal form of Mary Magdalene (typically depicted weeping), from Old French Madelaine (whence Madeleine), from Late Latin Magdalena (see Magdalena, Magdalene, and Maudlin). The correct English form is maudlin, spelled M-A-U-D-L-I-N.
Definition
- 1The Magdalene; Mary Magdalene.
- 2Either of two aromatic plants, costmary or sweet yarrow.
- 3A Magdalene house; a brothel.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how maudlin appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
for alle they worſchipden hir ſouereynly / as worthy was / but ſpecially Mawdelayne / that wolde neuere departe fro hir.
Common Maudlin have somewhat long and narrow leaves, snipped about the edges.
Etymology
From Middle English Maudelen, a dialectal form of Mary Magdalene (typically depicted weeping), from Old French Madelaine (whence Madeleine), from Late Latin Magdalena (see Magdalena, Magdalene, and Maudlin).
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "maudlin", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).