metabolic

/mɛtəˈbɒlɪk/

//mɛtəˈbɒlɪk// adj

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

"metabolic" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“metabolic” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #12,639. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#12,639
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of or pertaining to metamorphosis; pertaining to, or involving, change.

Corpus desk

Index EN-metabolic · metabolic · English

metabolic · rank #12,639 · 13 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #12,639
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH mascot

Nearest frequency peer: mascot (-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 “metabolic”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “metabolic” 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

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

metabolic vs metallic
78% similar
metabolic vs metabolism
80% similar
metabolic vs metabolite
80% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for metabolic
PropertyValue
Headwordmetabolic
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/mɛtəˈbɒlɪk/
Letters9
Frequency rank#12,639
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “metabolic”

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).metaboliclands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “mascot” (#12,638), “meth” (#12,640), “mantle” (#12,637). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “metabolic” is #12,639. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around metabolic (IPA /mɛtəˈbɒlɪk/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #12,639 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for metabolic, with forms such as "emtabolic", "meatbolic", and "metabbolic". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "metallic", "metabolism", "metabolite", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: See metabolism. The correct English form is metabolic, spelled M-E-T-A-B-O-L-I-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of or pertaining to metamorphosis; pertaining to, or involving, change.
  2. 2
    Of or pertaining to metabolism

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. metabolic activity
  2. metabolic force

Etymology

See metabolism.

This word in other languages

metabólico(Español)métabolique(Français)metabólico(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • emtabolic
  • meatbolic
  • metabbolic
  • metabloic
  • metaboilc
  • metabolci
  • metabolicc
  • metabollic
  • metaoblic
  • metbaolic
  • mettabolic
  • mmetabolic
  • mteabolic

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of metabolic - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

emtabolic2meatbolic2metabbolic1metabloic2metaboilc2metabolci2metabolicc1metabollic1
Edit distance from "metabolic"

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 "metabolic"?
"metabolic" is spelled M-E-T-A-B-O-L-I-C. The IPA pronunciation is /mɛtəˈbɒlɪk/.
What does "metabolic" mean?
As an adjective, "metabolic" means: Of or pertaining to metamorphosis; pertaining to, or involving, change.
What words are commonly confused with "metabolic"?
"metabolic" is commonly confused with "metallic", "metabolism", "metabolite". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "metabolic"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "metabolic" is /mɛtəˈbɒlɪk/. 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 "metabolic"?
See metabolism. 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 "metabolic", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

nostalgia#12,647lawmakers#12,628paperback#12,650inflicted#12,621

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

regulator13 variantsfantasies13 variantsshutdown13 variantsempirical13 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list