nylon
/ˈnaɪlɒn/
"nylon" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“nylon” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #16,762. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #16,762
- frequency rank, English
- 1,534
- “N” headwords
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Originally, the DuPont company trade name for polyamide, a copolymer whose molecules consist of alternating diamine and dicarboxylic acid monomers bonded together; now generically used for this typ...
Corpus desk
Index EN-nylon · nylon · English
nylon · rank #16,762 · 8 variants · 7 confusables
- FREQ-MID #16,762
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
- VAR-MID 8 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,534
- PHOTO-FINISH noodle
Nearest frequency peer: noodle (-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 “nylon”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- muted
muted
83,242 corpus weight
- noodle
noodle
83,240 corpus weight
- nylon
nylon
83,239 corpus weight
- override
override
83,238 corpus weight
- ozone
ozone
83,237 corpus weight
- Papua
Papua
83,236 corpus weight
What this shows “nylon” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | nylon |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈnaɪlɒn/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #16,762 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “nylon”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 8 spelling variants around nylon (IPA /ˈnaɪlɒn/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #16,762 among 1,534 “N” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for nylon, with forms such as "nlyon", "nnylon", and "nyllon". 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. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "non", "noon", "neon", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Coined by the company DuPont in 1938. According to the company, the name was formed from the random generic syllable nyl- + the common fiber suffix -on (as in rayon and Dacron), said to be ultimately from cotton. The correct English form is nylon, spelled N-Y-L-O-N.
Definition
- 1Originally, the DuPont company trade name for polyamide, a copolymer whose molecules consist of alternating diamine and dicarboxylic acid monomers bonded together; now generically used for this type of polymer.
- 2A stocking originally fabricated from nylon; also used generically for any long, sheer stocking worn on a woman's legs.
- 3A Queen's Counsel, King's Counsel or Senior Counsel who was appointed as a courtesy, rather than on merit.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how nylon appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I tore a hole in my nylons while walking home through the woods.
1970-1975, Lou Sullivan, personal diary, quoted in 2019, Ellis Martin, Zach Ozma (editors), We Both Laughed In Pleasure He put on make-up, nylons, panties, a dress.
Etymology
Coined by the company DuPont in 1938. According to the company, the name was formed from the random generic syllable nyl- + the common fiber suffix -on (as in rayon and Dacron), said to be ultimately from cotton.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- nlyon
- nnylon
- nyllon
- nylno
- nylonn
- nyoln
- nyylon
- ynlon
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of nylon - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "nylon", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).