metastasize

/mɪˈtæstəsaɪz/

//mɪˈtæstəsaɪz// verb

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

"metastasize" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“metastasize” is uncommon English (frequency #93,988 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#93,988
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of a disease (especially cancer) or a tumour: to form a metastasis (“a secondary focus away from the primary site”) in (a body organ).

Corpus desk

Index EN-metastasize · metastasize · English

metastasize · rank #93,988 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #93,988
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH MetroCard

Nearest frequency peer: MetroCard (+2 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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “metastasize”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “metastasize” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for metastasize
PropertyValue
Headwordmetastasize
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/mɪˈtæstəsaɪz/
Letters11
Frequency rank#93,988
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “metastasize” sits in English frequency

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).metastasizelands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “MetroCard” (#93,990), “merkin” (#93,985), “Melfi” (#93,983). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

metastasize is uncommon English at frequency #93,988 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /mɪˈtæstəsaɪz/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for metastasize, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Etymologically, the entry records: From metastasis + -ize (suffix forming verbs meaning to do things denoted by the adjectives or nouns the suffix is attached to). Metastasis is a learned borrowing from Late Latin metastasis (“(rhetoric) rapid or sudden transition from one argument, point, o… The correct English form is metastasize, spelled M-E-T-A-S-T-A-S-I-Z-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of a disease (especially cancer) or a tumour: to form a metastasis (“a secondary focus away from the primary site”) in (a body organ).
  2. 2
    To disseminate or spread (something, often an undesirable thing), especially in a destructive manner.
  3. 3
    Of a disease (especially cancer) or a tumour: to undergo metastasis (“spreading from a primary site to one or more other sites in the body”).
  4. 4
    Of a thing, often one which is undesirable: to disseminate or spread, especially in a destructive manner.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. "I remember the first time he woke up throwing up, and my first thought wasn't, 'Oh he has the stomach flu,'" she [Rene McNall-Knapp] said. "It was, 'Oh, it's gone to his brain, and it's metastasized his brain, and he's throwing up because of that.'"
  2. In a broader sense, criticism as a form is in trouble. And celebrities like [Ariana] Grande, like [Michael] Che, like [Olivia] Munn, who swat at it to the delight of their fans, concerningly seem to metastasize the problem.

Etymology

From metastasis + -ize (suffix forming verbs meaning to do things denoted by the adjectives or nouns the suffix is attached to). Metastasis is a learned borrowing from Late Latin metastasis (“(rhetoric) rapid or sudden transition from one argument, point, or topic to another”), and from its etymons Koine Greek μετάστασις (metástasis, “(rhetoric) rapid or sudden transition from one argument, point, or topic to another”) and Ancient Greek μετάστασις (metástasis, “change; removal; (medicine) movement of disease, pain, etc., from one part of the body to another”), from μετᾰ- (metă-, prefix denoting change in condition or position) (possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *meth₂) + στᾰ́σῐς (stắsĭs, “condition, state; position”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *steh₂- (“to stand (up)”)), modelled after μεθιστάναι (methistánai, “to change; to remove”). The use of French métastase (“metastasis”) to refer to the spread of cancer was coined in 1829 by the French gynecologist Joseph Récamier (1774–1852).

This word in other languages

métastaser(Français)

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 "metastasize"?
"metastasize" is spelled M-E-T-A-S-T-A-S-I-Z-E. The IPA pronunciation is /mɪˈtæstəsaɪz/.
What does "metastasize" mean?
As a verb, "metastasize" means: Of a disease (especially cancer) or a tumour: to form a metastasis (“a secondary focus away from the primary site”) in (a body organ).
How do you pronounce "metastasize"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "metastasize" is /mɪˈtæstəsaɪz/. 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 "metastasize"?
From metastasis + -ize (suffix forming verbs meaning to do things denoted by the adjectives or nouns the suffix is attached to). Metastasis is a learned borrowing from Late Latin metastasis (“(rhetoric) rapid or sudden transition from one argument... 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 "metastasize", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

necessaries#94,039Lossiemouth#93,933orthonormal#94,080kitesurfing#93,879

What to do next

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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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list