metalloid
/ˈmɛtəlɔɪd/
"metalloid" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“metalloid” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An element, such as silicon or germanium, intermediate in properties between that of a metal and a nonmetal; especially an elemental semiconductor.
Corpus desk
Index EN-metalloid · metalloid · English
metalloid · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "M" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | metalloid |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmɛtəlɔɪd/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “metalloid” in English
Rare enough to double-check
metalloid is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈmɛtəlɔɪd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for metalloid, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From metal + -oid. The correct English form is metalloid, spelled M-E-T-A-L-L-O-I-D.
Definition
- 1An element, such as silicon or germanium, intermediate in properties between that of a metal and a nonmetal; especially an elemental semiconductor.
- 2The metallic base of a fixed alkali, or alkaline earth; applied to sodium, potassium, and some other metallic substances whose metallic character was supposed to be not well defined.
- 3A nonmetal.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how metalloid appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
By some they [metals of the alkalies] were called metalloids; by some their simple nature was objected to
Etymology
From metal + -oid.
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.