paralytic
/ˌpæɹəˈlɪtɪk/
"paralytic" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“paralytic” is uncommon English (frequency #54,377 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #54,377
- frequency rank, English
- 4,417
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Someone suffering from paralysis.
Corpus desk
Index EN-paralytic · paralytic · English
paralytic · rank #54,377 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #54,377
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH parakeet
Nearest frequency peer: parakeet (-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.
Long-tail ranks near “paralytic”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- padang
padang
45,628 corpus weight
- parakeet
parakeet
45,625 corpus weight
- paralytic
paralytic
45,624 corpus weight
- parfait
parfait
45,623 corpus weight
- patella
patella
45,622 corpus weight
- pattie
pattie
45,620 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “paralytic” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | paralytic |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌpæɹəˈlɪtɪk/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #54,377 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “paralytic” in English
Rare enough to double-check
paralytic is uncommon English at frequency #54,377 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌpæɹəˈlɪtɪk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for paralytic, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French paralytique, from Latin paralyticus, from Ancient Greek παραλυτικός (paralutikós, “paralyzed”). The correct English form is paralytic, spelled P-A-R-A-L-Y-T-I-C.
Definition
- 1Someone suffering from paralysis.
- 2A drug that produces paralysis.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how paralytic appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Quoth I to myself, "Haply this Shaykh is of those who were wrecked in the ship and hath made his way to this island." So I drew near to him and saluted him, and he returned my salam by signs, but spoke not; and I said to him, "O nuncle mine, what causeth thee to sit here?" He shook his head and moaned and signed to me with his hand as who should say, "Tak…
For example, use of paralytics in morbidly obese patients or those with spinal instability can precipitate complete upper airway obstruction.
Etymology
Borrowed from French paralytique, from Latin paralyticus, from Ancient Greek παραλυτικός (paralutikós, “paralyzed”).
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "paralytic", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).