pentobarbital
/ˌpɛn.təˈbɑɹ.bəˌtɔl/
"pentobarbital" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pentobarbital” is uncommon English (frequency #78,933 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #78,933
- frequency rank, English
- 4,417
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A narcotic and sedative barbiturate drug (trademark Nembutal) formerly used to relieve insomnia.
Corpus desk
Index EN-pentobarbital · pentobarbital · English
pentobarbital · rank #78,933 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #78,933
- LEN-MEGA 13 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH pentameter
Nearest frequency peer: pentameter (-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 “pentobarbital”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Peloponnese
Peloponnese
21,072 corpus weight
- Pendergast
Pendergast
21,071 corpus weight
- pentameter
pentameter
21,069 corpus weight
- pentobarbit…
pentobarbital
21,068 corpus weight
- personalise
personalise
21,066 corpus weight
- photorealis…
photorealistic
21,064 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “pentobarbital” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pentobarbital |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌpɛn.təˈbɑɹ.bəˌtɔl/ |
| Letters | 13 |
| Frequency rank | #78,933 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “pentobarbital” in English
Rare enough to double-check
pentobarbital is uncommon English at frequency #78,933 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌpɛn.təˈbɑɹ.bəˌtɔl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A narcotic and sedative barbiturate drug (trademark Nembutal) formerly used to relieve insomnia.".
pentobarbital doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From pent(yl) + -o- + barbital. The correct English form is pentobarbital, spelled P-E-N-T-O-B-A-R-B-I-T-A-L.
Definition
- 1A narcotic and sedative barbiturate drug (trademark Nembutal) formerly used to relieve insomnia.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how pentobarbital appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
And lest anyone think traipsing through the gray and bleach-smelly execution chamber where triple homicide offenders are injected with pentobarbital isn't depressing enough, later they will stage a press conference in front of the gates of Captain Joe Byrd Cemetery, the parched plot of land where executed prisoners whose bodies family members prefer not t…
Etymology
From pent(yl) + -o- + barbital.
Synonyms
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 "pentobarbital", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 13 letters (nearest by frequency rank).