pharynx
/ˈfa.ɹɪŋks/
"pharynx" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pharynx” is uncommon English (frequency #64,609 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #64,609
- frequency rank, English
- 4,417
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The part of the alimentary canal and respiratory tract that extends from the back of the mouth and nasal cavity to the larynx and esophagus.
Corpus desk
Index EN-pharynx · pharynx · English
pharynx · rank #64,609 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #64,609
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH Percocet
Nearest frequency peer: Percocet (-2 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 “pharynx”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Patiala
Patiala
35,401 corpus weight
- Pekin
Pekin
35,396 corpus weight
- Percocet
Percocet
35,394 corpus weight
- pharynx
pharynx
35,392 corpus weight
- PMT
PMT
35,385 corpus weight
- politicking
politicking
35,383 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “pharynx” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pharynx |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfa.ɹɪŋks/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #64,609 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “pharynx” in English
Rare enough to double-check
pharynx is uncommon English at frequency #64,609 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈfa.ɹɪŋks/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for pharynx, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowing from New Latin pharynx, from Ancient Greek φᾰ́ρῠγξ (phắrŭnx, “throat”). The correct English form is pharynx, spelled P-H-A-R-Y-N-X.
Definition
- 1The part of the alimentary canal and respiratory tract that extends from the back of the mouth and nasal cavity to the larynx and esophagus.
- 2The part of the alimentary canal immediately behind the mouth in invertebrates that may be thickened and muscular, eversible and toothed, or adapted as a suctorial organ.
Etymology
Borrowing from New Latin pharynx, from Ancient Greek φᾰ́ρῠγξ (phắrŭnx, “throat”).
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 "pharynx", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).