MSNBC
"msnbc" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“MSNBC” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #19,143 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #19,143
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Former name of MS NOW, an American news-based television channel and website.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | MSNBC |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #19,143 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “MSNBC” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for MSNBC is 5 letters long, classified as a proper noun. Corpus data places it at rank #19,143 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Former name of MS NOW, an American news-based television channel and website.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for MSNBC, with forms such as "mmsnbc", "mnsbc", and "msbnc". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "MSN", "manic", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: An initialism from the names of its founders, Microsoft and the National Broadcasting Company, equivalent to MS + NBC. The correct English form is MSNBC, spelled M-S-N-B-C.
Definition
- 1Former name of MS NOW, an American news-based television channel and website.
Etymology
An initialism from the names of its founders, Microsoft and the National Broadcasting Company, equivalent to MS + NBC.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: mmsnbc,mnsbc,msbnc,msnbbc,msnbcc,msncb,msnnbc,mssnbc,smnbc
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of MSNBC - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 “MSNBC”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-S-N-B-C - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Don't mix it up with “MSN” - see the side-by-side comparison. MSNBC vs MSN
- 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.