n-word

noun

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

The verdict

“n-word” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
6
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The word nigger or nigga or nigra.

Corpus desk

Index EN-n-word · n-word · English

n-word · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "N" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

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

Long-tail rank of “n-word” in English

n-wordfalls 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.

Rare enough to double-check

n-word is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 6 senses are on record.

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).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how n-word appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The prosecutor, his voice trembling, added that the "N-word" was so vile that he would not utter it.
  2. I do not use “children”, because I see that word as being an equivalent to the N-word in this context [the out-right slavery that those under 18 face]. “Childish”, “child-like”, etc. usually have very negative or derogatory connotations.

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). 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list