Neanderthal
/niːˈæn.dəˌtɑːl/
"neanderthal" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Neanderthal” has 17 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #30,896. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #30,896
- frequency rank, English
- 1,534
- “N” headwords
- 17
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of or pertaining to Homo neanderthalensis.
Corpus desk
Index EN-neanderthal · Neanderthal · English
Neanderthal · rank #30,896 · 17 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-MID #30,896
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-HIGH 17 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,534
- PHOTO-FINISH navel
Nearest frequency peer: navel (-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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “Neanderthal”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- N1
N1
69,108 corpus weight
- naturalized
naturalized
69,107 corpus weight
- navel
navel
69,106 corpus weight
- Neanderthal
Neanderthal
69,105 corpus weight
- Nippon
Nippon
69,103 corpus weight
- nitric
nitric
69,102 corpus weight
What this shows “Neanderthal” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Neanderthal |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /niːˈæn.dəˌtɑːl/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #30,896 |
| Misspellings tracked | 17 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “Neanderthal”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 17 spelling variants around Neanderthal (IPA /niːˈæn.dəˌtɑːl/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #30,896 among 1,534 “N” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for Neanderthal, with forms such as "enanderthal", "naenderthal", and "neadnerthal". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From obsolete German Neanderthal, now spelled Neandertal, the name of a valley (German Tal, older also spelled Thal) near Düsseldorf where the first Neanderthal was discovered in 1856. A hollow near the valley was known as Neanderhöhle (“Neander Hollow”) an… The correct English form is Neanderthal, spelled N-E-A-N-D-E-R-T-H-A-L.
Definition
- 1Of or pertaining to Homo neanderthalensis.
- 2Old-fashioned, opposed to change.
- 3Of or pertaining to the Neander Valley in Germany.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how Neanderthal appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The capacity of the Neanderthal skull was 10% larger than that of modern humans.
[…]In short, many assessments conclude that East Asians have more Neanderthal ancestry than Europeans, who have more Neanderthal ancestry than people in the Middle East.
Etymology
From obsolete German Neanderthal, now spelled Neandertal, the name of a valley (German Tal, older also spelled Thal) near Düsseldorf where the first Neanderthal was discovered in 1856. A hollow near the valley was known as Neanderhöhle (“Neander Hollow”) and Neandershöhle (“Neander’s Hollow”) in the early 19th century, and the valley had been renamed to Neanderthal in 1850, in honour of the German Calvinist theologian and hymn writer Joachim Neander (1650–1680). Before, the valley was known as das Gesteins (literally “The Rocks [sg.]”) and Hundsklipp (literally “Dog Cliff”). The name of Joachim Neander is based on the Ancient Greek translation (νέος (néos) + ᾰ̓νήρ (ănḗr)) of his original surname Neumann (“Newman”). The pronunciation with the "th" sound (/θ/) is a spelling pronunciation; the original German word is pronounced with a "t" sound (/t/).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- enanderthal
- naenderthal
- neadnerthal
- neandderthal
- neanderhtal
- neanderrthal
- neandertahl
- neanderthall
- neanderthhal
- neanderthla
- neandertthal
- neandetrhal
- neandrethal
- neanedrthal
- neannderthal
- nenaderthal
- nneanderthal
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Neanderthal - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "Neanderthal", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (17 here; floor ≥5).