phantom

/ˈfæntəm/

//ˈfæntəm// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"phantom" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“phantom” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #9,936. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,936
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A ghost or apparition.

Corpus desk

Index EN-phantom · phantom · English

phantom · rank #9,936 · 11 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,936
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH penguin

Nearest frequency peer: penguin (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “phantom”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “phantom” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

phantom vs phenom
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for phantom
PropertyValue
Headwordphantom
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈfæntəm/
Letters7
Frequency rank#9,936
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “phantom”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).phantomlands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “penguin” (#9,935), “photoshop” (#9,937), “participant” (#9,934). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “phantom” is #9,936. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around phantom (IPA /ˈfæntəm/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #9,936 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for phantom, with forms such as "hpantom", "pahntom", and "phanntom". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "phenom", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English fantome, fanteme, from Old French fantosme, fantasme, from Latin phantasma (“an apparition, specter; (in Late Latin also) appearance, image”), from Ancient Greek φάντασμα (phántasma, “phantasm, an appearance, image, apparition,… The correct English form is phantom, spelled P-H-A-N-T-O-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    A ghost or apparition.
  2. 2
    Something apparently seen, heard, or sensed, but having no physical reality; an image that appears only in the mind; an illusion or delusion.
  3. 3
    A placeholder for a pair of players when there are an odd number of pairs playing.
  4. 4
    A test object that reproduces the characteristics of human tissue.
  5. 5
    Short for phantom power

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English fantome, fanteme, from Old French fantosme, fantasme, from Latin phantasma (“an apparition, specter; (in Late Latin also) appearance, image”), from Ancient Greek φάντασμα (phántasma, “phantasm, an appearance, image, apparition, specter”), from φαντάζω (phantázō, “I make visible”). Doublet of phantasm.

Synonyms

ghost

This word in other languages

fantasma(Español)fantôme(Français)Phantom(Deutsch)fantasma(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hpantom
  • pahntom
  • phanntom
  • phanotm
  • phantmo
  • phantomm
  • phanttom
  • phatnom
  • phhantom
  • phnatom
  • pphantom

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of phantom - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

hpantom2pahntom2phanntom1phanotm2phantmo2phantomm1phanttom1phatnom2
Edit distance from "phantom"

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 "phantom"?
"phantom" is spelled P-H-A-N-T-O-M. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfæntəm/.
What does "phantom" mean?
As a noun, "phantom" means: A ghost or apparition.
What words are commonly confused with "phantom"?
"phantom" is commonly confused with "phenom". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "phantom"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "phantom" is /ˈfæntəm/. 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 "phantom"?
Inherited from Middle English fantome, fanteme, from Old French fantosme, fantasme, from Latin phantasma (“an apparition, specter; (in Late Latin also) appearance, image”), from Ancient Greek φάντασμα (phántasma, “phantasm, an appearance, image, a... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "phantom", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

penguin#9,935Newport#9,924newborn#9,923Romania#9,952

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

seventy11 variantsjointly11 variantsspecify11 variantsThomson11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list