NKVD
"nkvd" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“NKVD” is uncommon English (frequency #71,739 among 1,534 “N” headwords), classed as a proper noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #71,739
- frequency rank, English
- 1,534
- “N” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs — the Soviet interior ministry known for its secret police, forerunner of the KGB
Corpus desk
Index EN-nkvd · NKVD · English
NKVD · rank #71,739 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #71,739
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-0 0 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,534
- PHOTO-FINISH nicotinic
Nearest frequency peer: nicotinic (-2 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 “NKVD”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- neurotoxic
neurotoxic
28,268 corpus weight
- Nevers
Nevers
28,267 corpus weight
- nicotinic
nicotinic
28,264 corpus weight
- NKVD
NKVD
28,262 corpus weight
- NPO
NPO
28,260 corpus weight
- NSL
NSL
28,258 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “NKVD” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | NKVD |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #71,739 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “NKVD” in English
Rare enough to double-check
NKVD is uncommon English at frequency #71,739 among 1,534 “N” headwords, classed as aproper noun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "The People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs — the Soviet interior ministry known for its secret police, forerunner of the KGB".
No misspelling variants are generated for NKVD in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From the Russian НКВД (NKVD), through phonetic spelling of Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних де́л (Naródnyj komissariát vnútrennix dél) and the use of acronym. The correct English form is NKVD, spelled N-K-V-D.
Definition
- 1The People’s Commissariat for Internal Affairs — the Soviet interior ministry known for its secret police, forerunner of the KGB
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how NKVD appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
On the defensive side, Stalin had made equally thorough preparations. Lenin’s personal guard consisted of two men, later increased to four after the attempt on his life by Fanny Kaplan. Stalin’s was several thousand strong, and the NKVD in addition kept other units at a state of readiness. The road to his country dacha, some twenty miles away, was guarded…
Etymology
From the Russian НКВД (NKVD), through phonetic spelling of Наро́дный комиссариа́т вну́тренних де́л (Naródnyj komissariát vnútrennix dél) and the use of acronym.
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 "NKVD", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).