obnoxious

/əbˈnɒkʃəs/

//əbˈnɒkʃəs// adj

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

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

The verdict

“obnoxious” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #17,685. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#17,685
frequency rank, English
1,431
“O” headwords
12
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Extremely offensive or unpleasant; very annoying, contemptible, or odious.

Corpus desk

Index EN-obnoxious · obnoxious · English

obnoxious · rank #17,685 · 12 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #17,685
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,431
  • PHOTO-FINISH Newfoundland

Nearest frequency peer: Newfoundland (-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 “obnoxious”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “obnoxious” 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 obnoxious
PropertyValue
Headwordobnoxious
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/əbˈnɒkʃəs/
Letters9
Frequency rank#17,685
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “obnoxious”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).obnoxiouslands 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 “Newfoundland” (#17,684), “Olsen” (#17,686), “nearer” (#17,683). Among 1,431 “O” headwords, “obnoxious” is #17,685. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around obnoxious (IPA /əbˈnɒkʃəs/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #17,685 among 1,431 “O” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for obnoxious, with forms such as "bonoxious", "obbnoxious", and "obnnoxious". 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, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *h₁epi Learned borrowing from Latin obnoxiōsus (“subject to someone, under someone’s authority”) + English -ous (suffix denoting the presence of a quality in any degree, typically an abundance). Obnoxiōsus is derived from obnoxius (“guilty, punish… The correct English form is obnoxious, spelled O-B-N-O-X-I-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Extremely offensive or unpleasant; very annoying, contemptible, or odious.
  2. 2
    Unjustly disagreeable, argumentative or objectionable; brazenly rude.
  3. 3
    Exposed or vulnerable to something, especially harm or injury.
  4. 4
    Causing harm or injury; harmful, hurtful, injurious.
  5. 5
    Deserving of blame or punishment; blameworthy, guilty.
  6. 6
    Under the authority or power of someone; subject, subordinate; hence, deferential, submissive, subservient.
  7. 7
    Followed by to: likely to do something.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Throwing stones at the bus is another example of your obnoxious behaviour.
  2. The disturbance had commenced, like those of England, in the refusal of the parliament to sanction an obnoxious tax; but here all resemblance ended.

Etymology

PIE word *h₁epi Learned borrowing from Latin obnoxiōsus (“subject to someone, under someone’s authority”) + English -ous (suffix denoting the presence of a quality in any degree, typically an abundance). Obnoxiōsus is derived from obnoxius (“guilty, punishable; subject to someone, under someone’s authority”) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of; overly; prone to’, forming adjectives from nouns).

This word in other languages

desagradable(Español)désagréable(Français)abscheulich(Deutsch)obnóxio(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bonoxious
  • obbnoxious
  • obnnoxious
  • obnoixous
  • obnoxiosu
  • obnoxiouss
  • obnoxiuos
  • obnoxoius
  • obnoxxious
  • obnxoious
  • obonxious
  • onboxious

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of obnoxious - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

bonoxious2obbnoxious1obnnoxious1obnoixous2obnoxiosu2obnoxiouss1obnoxiuos2obnoxoius2
Edit distance from "obnoxious"

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 "obnoxious"?
"obnoxious" is spelled O-B-N-O-X-I-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /əbˈnɒkʃəs/.
What does "obnoxious" mean?
As an adjective, "obnoxious" means: Extremely offensive or unpleasant; very annoying, contemptible, or odious.
What are common misspellings of "obnoxious"?
Common misspellings include "bonoxious", "obbnoxious", "obnnoxious", "obnoixous", "obnoxiosu". The correct spelling is "obnoxious".
How do you pronounce "obnoxious"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "obnoxious" is /əbˈnɒkʃəs/. 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 "obnoxious"?
PIE word *h₁epi Learned borrowing from Latin obnoxiōsus (“subject to someone, under someone’s authority”) + English -ous (suffix denoting the presence of a quality in any degree, typically an abundance). Obnoxiōsus is derived from obnoxius (“guil... 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 "obnoxious", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

orphanage#17,687recalling#17,700leftovers#17,660sixteenth#17,720

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

hysteria12 variantshovering12 variantsencoding12 variantsbarrister12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list