onerous
/ˈɒnəɹəs/
"onerous" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“onerous” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #32,104 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #32,104
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Imposing or constituting a physical, mental, or figurative load which can be borne only with effort; burdensome.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | onerous |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈɒnəɹəs/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #32,104 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “onerous” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for onerous is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɒnəɹəs/. Corpus data places it at rank #32,104 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Imposing or constituting a physical, mental, or figurative load which can be borne only with effort; burdensome.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for onerous, with forms such as "noerous", "oenrous", and "oneorus". 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 no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English onerous, from Middle French onereux, from Old French onereus, from Latin onerosus (“burdensome”), from onus (“load”). Compare exonerate. The correct English form is onerous, spelled O-N-E-R-O-U-S.
Definition
- 1Imposing or constituting a physical, mental, or figurative load which can be borne only with effort; burdensome.
Etymology
From Middle English onerous, from Middle French onereux, from Old French onereus, from Latin onerosus (“burdensome”), from onus (“load”). Compare exonerate.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: noerous,oenrous,oneorus,onerosu,onerouss,onerrous,oneruos,onnerous,onreous
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of onerous - 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.
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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Using “onerous”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-N-E-R-O-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɒnəɹəs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.