nefastous

adj

"nefastous" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“nefastous” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - inauspicious, disastrous, ill-omened

Corpus desk

Index EN-nefastous · nefastous · English

nefastous · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • 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 nefastous
PropertyValue
Headwordnefastous
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “nefastous” in English

nefastousranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

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

Rare enough to double-check

nefastous is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "inauspicious, disastrous, ill-omened".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for nefastous, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin nefastus. The correct English form is nefastous, spelled N-E-F-A-S-T-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    inauspicious, disastrous, ill-omened

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. THE time of the yeare which they deemed most lucky to Marry in (for almost every Nation has had their nefastous time and dayes) was the first Moneth of the Winter.

Etymology

From Latin nefastus.

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 "nefastous"?
"nefastous" is spelled N-E-F-A-S-T-O-U-S.
What does "nefastous" mean?
As an adjective, "nefastous" means: inauspicious, disastrous, ill-omened
What is the origin of the word "nefastous"?
From Latin nefastus. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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