morass
/məˈɹæs/
"morass" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“morass” is an uncommon English word, ranked #62,339 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #62,339
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A tract of soft, wet ground; a marsh; a fen.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | morass |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /məˈɹæs/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #62,339 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “morass” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for morass is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /məˈɹæs/. Corpus data places it at rank #62,339 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
morass has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Dutch moeras (“marsh, swamp”), an alteration (with influence from Dutch moer (“moor”)) of a direct descendant of Middle Dutch marasch (“marsh”). The Middle Dutch word is a borrowing from Old French mareis, from Proto-West Germanic *marisk. Doublet of m… The correct English form is morass, spelled M-O-R-A-S-S.
Definition
- 1A tract of soft, wet ground; a marsh; a fen.
- 2Anything that entraps or makes progress difficult.
Etymology
From Dutch moeras (“marsh, swamp”), an alteration (with influence from Dutch moer (“moor”)) of a direct descendant of Middle Dutch marasch (“marsh”). The Middle Dutch word is a borrowing from Old French mareis, from Proto-West Germanic *marisk. Doublet of marish and marsh, and linked in part to moor. Compare quagmire.
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); 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 “morass”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-O-R-A-S-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /məˈɹæs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.