morbidity

noun

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

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

The verdict

“morbidity” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #30,888 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#30,888
frequency rank, English
9
letters
14
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The quality of being unhealthful or diseased, sometimes including the cause.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

morbidity vs morbidly
78% similar
morbidity vs mobility
78% similar

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

Key facts for morbidity
PropertyValue
Headwordmorbidity
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters9
Frequency rank#30,888
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “morbidity” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). morbidity lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for morbidity is 9 letters long, classified as a noun. Corpus data places it at rank #30,888 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for morbidity, with forms such as "mmorbidity", "mobridity", and "morbbidity". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "morbidly", "mobility", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Recorded since 1721; from morbid + -ity, from Latin morbidus (“diseased”), from morbus (“disease”), from the root of morī (“to die”) or from Proto-Indo-European *mer- (“to rub, pound, wear away”). The correct English form is morbidity, spelled M-O-R-B-I-D-I-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The quality of being unhealthful or diseased, sometimes including the cause.
  2. 2
    The quality of being morbid; an attitude or state of mind marked by gloom.
  3. 3
    The incidence of a disease, as a rate of a population which is affected.
  4. 4
    An occurrence of illness or disease, or a single symptom of that illness.
  5. 5
    Adverse effects caused by a medical treatment such as surgery.
  6. 6
    The sickness rate of a population.

Etymology

Recorded since 1721; from morbid + -ity, from Latin morbidus (“diseased”), from morbus (“disease”), from the root of morī (“to die”) or from Proto-Indo-European *mer- (“to rub, pound, wear away”).

Synonyms

morbidnessunwholesomeness

This word in other languages

enfermo(Español)morbidité(Français)Morbidität(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: mmorbidity,mobridity,morbbidity,morbdiity,morbiddity,morbiditty,morbidityy,morbidiyt,morbidtiy,morbiidty,moribdity,morrbidity,mrobidity,omrbidity

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of morbidity - 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.

mmorbidity1mobridity2morbbidity1morbdiity2morbiddity1morbiditty1morbidityy1morbidiyt2
Edit distance from "morbidity"

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 "morbidity"?
"morbidity" is spelled M-O-R-B-I-D-I-T-Y.
What does "morbidity" mean?
As a noun, "morbidity" means: The quality of being unhealthful or diseased, sometimes including the cause.
What words are commonly confused with "morbidity"?
"morbidity" is commonly confused with "morbidly", "mobility". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What is the origin of the word "morbidity"?
Recorded since 1721; from morbid + -ity, from Latin morbidus (“diseased”), from morbus (“disease”), from the root of morī (“to die”) or from Proto-Indo-European *mer- (“to rub, pound, wear away”). 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.

Using “morbidity”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is M-O-R-B-I-D-I-T-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Don't mix it up with “morbidly” - see the side-by-side comparison. morbidity vs morbidly
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list