n-word

noun

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

"n-word" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“n-word” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The word nigger or nigga or nigra.

Key facts for n-word
PropertyValue
Headwordn-word
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters6
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “n-word” sits in English frequency

n-word falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for n-word is 6 letters long, classified as a noun. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for n-word, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

This entry carries no recorded etymology, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is n-word, spelled N---W-O-R-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    The word nigger or nigga or nigra.
  2. 2
    Any word, regardless of its starting letter, that is used oppressively, marginalizes or oppresses a group of people.
  3. 3
    The word Nazi.
  4. 4
    The word nuclear.
  5. 5
    A negation word, such as not, nobody, or nothing.
  6. 6
    A Danish/Swedish/Norwegian noun of the common gender (their indefinite article being en), as opposed to t-words, nouns of the neuter gender (their indefinite article being et).

This word in other languages

mot en N(Français)N-Wort(Deutsch)

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "n-word"?
"n-word" is spelled N---W-O-R-D.
What does "n-word" mean?
As a noun, "n-word" means: The word nigger or nigga or nigra.
What language does "n-word" come from?
"n-word" is a English word. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for this and other words across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German on PlainSpell.
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 “n-word”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is N---W-O-R-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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