misbegotten
/ˌmɪsbɪˈɡɒtn̩/
"misbegotten" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“misbegotten” is uncommon English (frequency #99,577 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #99,577
- frequency rank, English
- 4,057
- “M” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Born out of wedlock; illegitimate.
Corpus desk
Index EN-misbegotten · misbegotten · English
misbegotten · rank #99,577 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #99,577
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,057
- PHOTO-FINISH minge
Nearest frequency peer: minge (-3 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 “misbegotten”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- millage
millage
430 corpus weight
- mincer
mincer
428 corpus weight
- minge
minge
427 corpus weight
- misbegotten
misbegotten
424 corpus weight
- Miyazawa
Miyazawa
421 corpus weight
- Moishe
Moishe
419 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “misbegotten” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | misbegotten |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˌmɪsbɪˈɡɒtn̩/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #99,577 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “misbegotten” in English
Rare enough to double-check
misbegotten is uncommon English at frequency #99,577 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˌmɪsbɪˈɡɒtn̩/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for misbegotten in our index, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From mis- + begotten. The correct English form is misbegotten, spelled M-I-S-B-E-G-O-T-T-E-N.
Definition
- 1Born out of wedlock; illegitimate.
- 2Ill-conceived.
- 3Bad; worthless.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how misbegotten appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
But as the Deuill would haue it, three miſ-be-gotten Knaues, in Kendall Greene, came at my Back, […]
“Foolish woman!” responded the physician, half coldly, half soothingly. “What should ail me to harm this misbegotten and miserable babe? The medicine is potent for good, and were it my child—yea, mine own, as well as thine! I could do no better for it.”
Etymology
From mis- + begotten.
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 "misbegotten", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).