narcolepsy
/ˈnɑː(ɹ)kəˌlɛpsi/
"narcolepsy" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“narcolepsy” is uncommon English (frequency #53,127 among 24,391 “N” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #53,127
- frequency rank, English
- 24,391
- “N” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A disorder characterized by sudden and uncontrollable attacks of deep sleep, often brief, sometimes accompanied by paralysis and hallucinations.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | narcolepsy |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈnɑː(ɹ)kəˌlɛpsi/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #53,127 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “narcolepsy” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
narcolepsy is uncommon English at frequency #53,127 among 24,391 “N” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈnɑː(ɹ)kəˌlɛpsi/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A disorder characterized by sudden and uncontrollable attacks of deep sleep, often brief, sometimes accompanied by paralysis and hallucinations.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for narcolepsy, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French narcolepsie. By surface analysis, narco- + -lepsy, from Ancient Greek ναρκόω (narkóō, “put to sleep”) + λῆψις (lêpsis, “seizure”). The correct English form is narcolepsy, spelled N-A-R-C-O-L-E-P-S-Y.
Definition
- 1A disorder characterized by sudden and uncontrollable attacks of deep sleep, often brief, sometimes accompanied by paralysis and hallucinations.
Etymology
From French narcolepsie. By surface analysis, narco- + -lepsy, from Ancient Greek ναρκόω (narkóō, “put to sleep”) + λῆψις (lêpsis, “seizure”).
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
How do you spell "narcolepsy"?
What does "narcolepsy" mean?
How do you pronounce "narcolepsy"?
What is the origin of the word "narcolepsy"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “narcolepsy”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is N-A-R-C-O-L-E-P-S-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈnɑː(ɹ)kəˌlɛpsi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.