naphthalene
/ˈnæfθəliːn/
"naphthalene" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“naphthalene” is uncommon English (frequency #87,599 among 1,534 “N” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #87,599
- frequency rank, English
- 1,534
- “N” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A white crystalline hydrocarbon manufactured from coal tar; used in mothballs.
Corpus desk
Index EN-naphthalene · naphthalene · English
naphthalene · rank #87,599 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #87,599
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,534
- PHOTO-FINISH Nangarhar
Nearest frequency peer: Nangarhar (-1 rank slots)
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.
Long-tail ranks near “naphthalene”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- nakba
nakba
12,404 corpus weight
- Nangarhar
Nangarhar
12,403 corpus weight
- naphthalene
naphthalene
12,402 corpus weight
- nard
nard
12,401 corpus weight
- nematic
nematic
12,399 corpus weight
- Neosho
Neosho
12,398 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “naphthalene” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | naphthalene |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈnæfθəliːn/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #87,599 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “naphthalene” in English
Rare enough to double-check
naphthalene is uncommon English at frequency #87,599 among 1,534 “N” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈnæfθəliːn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for naphthalene, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: From naphth(a) + -al + -ene. The correct English form is naphthalene, spelled N-A-P-H-T-H-A-L-E-N-E.
Definition
- 1A white crystalline hydrocarbon manufactured from coal tar; used in mothballs.
- 2An aromatic bicyclic hydrocarbon, C₁₀H₈; an acene containing two fused benzene rings.
Etymology
From naphth(a) + -al + -ene.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "naphthalene", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).