paroxytone

/pəˈɹɒk.sɪˌtəʊn/

//pəˈɹɒk.sɪˌtəʊn// adj

"paroxytone" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“paroxytone” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
10
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Having the stress or accent on the penultimate syllable.

Corpus desk

Index EN-paroxytone · paroxytone · English

paroxytone · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "P" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for paroxytone
PropertyValue
Headwordparoxytone
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/pəˈɹɒk.sɪˌtəʊn/
Letters10
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “paroxytone” in English

paroxytoneranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

paroxytone is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective, transcribed /pəˈɹɒk.sɪˌtəʊn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Having the stress or accent on the penultimate syllable.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for paroxytone in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πᾰροξῠ́τονος (păroxŭ́tonos, “paroxytone”). The correct English form is paroxytone, spelled P-A-R-O-X-Y-T-O-N-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Having the stress or accent on the penultimate syllable.

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πᾰροξῠ́τονος (păroxŭ́tonos, “paroxytone”).

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "paroxytone"?
"paroxytone" is spelled P-A-R-O-X-Y-T-O-N-E. The IPA pronunciation is /pəˈɹɒk.sɪˌtəʊn/.
What does "paroxytone" mean?
As an adjective, "paroxytone" means: Having the stress or accent on the penultimate syllable.
How do you pronounce "paroxytone"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "paroxytone" is /pəˈɹɒk.sɪˌtəʊn/. 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 "paroxytone"?
Learned borrowing from Ancient Greek πᾰροξῠ́τονος (păroxŭ́tonos, “paroxytone”). 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list