oligonucleotide

noun

"oligonucleotide" is a 15-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“oligonucleotide” is uncommon English (frequency #73,494 among 15,494 “O” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#73,494
frequency rank, English
15,494
“O” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A short sequence of nucleotides (RNA or DNA), typically with twenty or fewer base pairs.

Key facts for oligonucleotide
PropertyValue
Headwordoligonucleotide
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters15
Frequency rank#73,494
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “oligonucleotide” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). oligonucleotide lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

oligonucleotide is uncommon English at frequency #73,494 among 15,494 “O” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A short sequence of nucleotides (RNA or DNA), typically with twenty or fewer base pairs.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for oligonucleotide in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: From oligo- + nucleotide. The correct English form is oligonucleotide, spelled O-L-I-G-O-N-U-C-L-E-O-T-I-D-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A short sequence of nucleotides (RNA or DNA), typically with twenty or fewer base pairs.

Etymology

From oligo- + nucleotide.

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

How do you spell "oligonucleotide"?
"oligonucleotide" is spelled O-L-I-G-O-N-U-C-L-E-O-T-I-D-E.
What does "oligonucleotide" mean?
As a noun, "oligonucleotide" means: A short sequence of nucleotides (RNA or DNA), typically with twenty or fewer base pairs.
What is the origin of the word "oligonucleotide"?
From oligo- + nucleotide. 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.

Using “oligonucleotide”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is O-L-I-G-O-N-U-C-L-E-O-T-I-D-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list