obituary

/əˈbɪt͡ʃʊ(ə)ɹi/

//əˈbɪt͡ʃʊ(ə)ɹi// noun

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

"obituary" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“obituary” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #16,983. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#16,983
frequency rank, English
1,431
“O” headwords
11
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A brief notice of a person's death, especially one published in a newspaper or other publication; also (obsolete), the section of a newspaper where notices of deaths are published.

Corpus desk

Index EN-obituary · obituary · English

obituary · rank #16,983 · 11 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #16,983
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,431
  • PHOTO-FINISH novice

Nearest frequency peer: novice (-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 “obituary”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “obituary” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for obituary
PropertyValue
Headwordobituary
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/əˈbɪt͡ʃʊ(ə)ɹi/
Letters8
Frequency rank#16,983
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “obituary”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).obituarylands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “novice” (#16,982), “Olivier” (#16,984), “nodded” (#16,981). Among 1,431 “O” headwords, “obituary” is #16,983. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around obituary (IPA /əˈbɪt͡ʃʊ(ə)ɹi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #16,983 among 1,431 “O” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for obituary, with forms such as "boituary", "obbituary", and "obitaury". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *h₁epi Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin obituārius (“obituary”) + English -ary (suffix denoting something relating to another thing or used in a place). Obituārius is derived from Latin obitus (“act of approaching or going toward, an approach… The correct English form is obituary, spelled O-B-I-T-U-A-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A brief notice of a person's death, especially one published in a newspaper or other publication; also (obsolete), the section of a newspaper where notices of deaths are published.
  2. 2
    A brief biography of a person (especially one who is well-known) who has recently died, usually describing their life and achievements, particularly in the form of an article in a news publication or an item in a news broadcast.
  3. 3
    An announcement or description of the end of something.
  4. 4
    A register of deaths, especially one maintained by a religious institution; a necrology.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. [N]ot one in fifty of the actual disasters and deaths by casualties in the fishery, ever finds a public record at home, however transient and immediately forgotten that record. Do you suppose that that poor fellow there, who this moment perhaps caught by the whale-line off the coast of New Guinea, is being carried down to the bottom of the sea by the soun…
  2. The newspaper came in, as usual, after breakfast. I looked it over, and discovered this memorable entry, among the obituary announcements of the day:— "On the 29th inst., at Brighton, Michael Vanstone, Esq., formerly of Zurich, aged 77."

Etymology

PIE word *h₁epi Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin obituārius (“obituary”) + English -ary (suffix denoting something relating to another thing or used in a place). Obituārius is derived from Latin obitus (“act of approaching or going toward, an approach; act of going down, setting; of the sun: sunset; death; destruction, downfall, ruin”) + -ārius (suffix forming adjectives and agent nouns); while obitus is a noun use of the perfect passive participle of obeō (“to go to meet, go towards; (figurative) to die, pass away, perish; (astronomy) to set”), from ob- (prefix meaning ‘toward’) + eō (“to go, move”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to go”).

This word in other languages

obituario(Español)nécrologie(Français)Nekrolog(Deutsch)obituário(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • boituary
  • obbituary
  • obitaury
  • obittuary
  • obituarry
  • obituaryy
  • obituayr
  • obituray
  • obiutary
  • obtiuary
  • oibtuary

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of obituary - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

boituary2obbituary1obitaury2obittuary1obituarry1obituaryy1obituayr2obituray2
Edit distance from "obituary"

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 "obituary"?
"obituary" is spelled O-B-I-T-U-A-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈbɪt͡ʃʊ(ə)ɹi/.
What does "obituary" mean?
As a noun, "obituary" means: A brief notice of a person's death, especially one published in a newspaper or other publication; also (obsolete), the section of a newspaper where notices of deaths are published.
What are common misspellings of "obituary"?
Common misspellings include "boituary", "obbituary", "obitaury", "obittuary", "obituarry". The correct spelling is "obituary".
How do you pronounce "obituary"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "obituary" is /əˈbɪt͡ʃʊ(ə)ɹi/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "obituary"?
PIE word *h₁epi Learned borrowing from Medieval Latin obituārius (“obituary”) + English -ary (suffix denoting something relating to another thing or used in a place). Obituārius is derived from Latin obitus (“act of approaching or going toward, a... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "obituary", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

mustache#16,978Paterson#16,990Michaels#16,969populous#16,998

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

postwar11 variantsprudent11 variantslunches11 variantsratified11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list