menace
/ˈmɛnɪs/
"menace" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“menace” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #14,165 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #14,165
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A perceived threat or danger.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | menace |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmɛnɪs/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #14,165 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “menace” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for menace is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmɛnɪs/. Corpus data places it at rank #14,165 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for menace, with forms such as "emnace", "meance", and "menacce". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "mince", "Monaco", "mensch", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English manace, from Old French manace, menace, &c., from Late Latin minācia (“threat, menace”), from Latin mināx (“threatening”) + -ia (suffix forming abstract nouns). The correct English form is menace, spelled M-E-N-A-C-E.
Definition
- 1A perceived threat or danger.
- 2The act of threatening.
- 3An annoying and bothersome person or thing.
Etymology
From Middle English manace, from Old French manace, menace, &c., from Late Latin minācia (“threat, menace”), from Latin mināx (“threatening”) + -ia (suffix forming abstract nouns).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: emnace,meance,menacce,menaec,mencae,mennace,mmenace,mneace
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of menace - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “menace”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-E-N-A-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmɛnɪs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “mince” - see the side-by-side comparison. menace vs mince
- 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.