neuralgia

noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

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

The verdict

“neuralgia” is uncommon English (frequency #66,868 among 24,391 “N” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#66,868
frequency rank, English
24,391
“N” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An acute, severe, intermittent pain that radiates along a nerve.

Key facts for neuralgia
PropertyValue
Headwordneuralgia
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters9
Frequency rank#66,868
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “neuralgia” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). neuralgia lands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

neuralgia is uncommon English at frequency #66,868 among 24,391 “N” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for neuralgia, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From New Latin neuralgia, from Ancient Greek νεῦρον (neûron, “nerve”) + ἄλγος (álgos, “pain”). By surface analysis, neur- + -algia. The correct English form is neuralgia, spelled N-E-U-R-A-L-G-I-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    An acute, severe, intermittent pain that radiates along a nerve.
  2. 2
    Acute emotional distress.

Etymology

From New Latin neuralgia, from Ancient Greek νεῦρον (neûron, “nerve”) + ἄλγος (álgos, “pain”). By surface analysis, neur- + -algia.

Synonyms

neuralgyneurodynia

This word in other languages

neuralgia(Español)névralgie(Français)Neuralgie(Deutsch)

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 "neuralgia"?
"neuralgia" is spelled N-E-U-R-A-L-G-I-A.
What does "neuralgia" mean?
As a noun, "neuralgia" means: An acute, severe, intermittent pain that radiates along a nerve.
What is the origin of the word "neuralgia"?
From New Latin neuralgia, from Ancient Greek νεῦρον (neûron, “nerve”) + ἄλγος (álgos, “pain”). By surface analysis, neur- + -algia. 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.

Using “neuralgia”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is N-E-U-R-A-L-G-I-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list