obscurity
/əbˈskjʊəɹɪti/
"obscurity" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“obscurity” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #22,454. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #22,454
- frequency rank, English
- 1,431
- “O” headwords
- 14
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Darkness; the absence of light.
Corpus desk
Index EN-obscurity · obscurity · English
obscurity · rank #22,454 · 14 variants · 1 confusable
- FREQ-MID #22,454
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
- VAR-HIGH 14 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,431
- PHOTO-FINISH oblique
Nearest frequency peer: oblique (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “obscurity”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- northbound
northbound
77,549 corpus weight
- oblique
oblique
77,548 corpus weight
- obscurity
obscurity
77,547 corpus weight
- Odessa
Odessa
77,546 corpus weight
- Okinawa
Okinawa
77,545 corpus weight
- onslaught
onslaught
77,544 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “obscurity” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | obscurity |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /əbˈskjʊəɹɪti/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #22,454 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “obscurity” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 14 spelling variants around obscurity (IPA /əbˈskjʊəɹɪti/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #22,454 among 1,431 “O” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for obscurity, with forms such as "boscurity", "obbscurity", and "obcsurity". 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. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "obscenity", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English obscurite, obscuryte, from Middle French obscurité and its etymon Latin obscūritās. By surface analysis, obscure + -ity. The correct English form is obscurity, spelled O-B-S-C-U-R-I-T-Y.
Definition
- 1Darkness; the absence of light.
- 2The state of being unknown; a thing that is unknown.
- 3The quality of being difficult to understand; a thing that is difficult to understand.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how obscurity appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The night was considerably clearer than anybody on board her desired when the schooner Ventura headed for the land. It rose in places, black and sharp against the velvety indigo, over her dipping bow, though most of the low littoral was wrapped in obscurity.
I walked in, and Stroeve followed me. The room was in darkness. I could only see that it was an attic, with a sloping roof; and a faint glimmer, no more than a less profound obscurity, came from a skylight.
Etymology
From Middle English obscurite, obscuryte, from Middle French obscurité and its etymon Latin obscūritās. By surface analysis, obscure + -ity.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- boscurity
- obbscurity
- obcsurity
- obsccurity
- obscruity
- obscuirty
- obscuritty
- obscurityy
- obscuriyt
- obscurrity
- obscurtiy
- obsscurity
- obsucrity
- osbcurity
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of obscurity - 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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "obscurity"?
What does "obscurity" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "obscurity"?
How do you pronounce "obscurity"?
What is the origin of the word "obscurity"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "obscurity", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "obscurity". Here's where to go from here.
- This headword has one recorded confusable pair with "obscenity". View pair
- 14 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #22,454 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "O" letter cohort. O–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.