phenobarbital
/ˌfiː.nə(ʊ)ˈbɑː.bɪt.əl/
"phenobarbital" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“phenobarbital” is uncommon English (frequency #87,671 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #87,671
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A narcotic and sedative barbiturate drug used chiefly to treat epilepsy.
Corpus desk
Index EN-phenobarbital · phenobarbital · English
phenobarbital · rank #87,671 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #87,671
- LEN-MEGA 13 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 46,516
- PHOTO-FINISH pharmacologic…
Nearest frequency peer: pharmacologically (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “phenobarbital”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- pharmacolog…
pharmacologically
12,331 corpus weight
- phenobarbit…
phenobarbital
12,330 corpus weight
- phenytoin
phenytoin
12,329 corpus weight
- phlegmatic
phlegmatic
12,328 corpus weight
- photobomb
photobomb
12,327 corpus weight
- pickerel
pickerel
12,325 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “phenobarbital” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | phenobarbital |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌfiː.nə(ʊ)ˈbɑː.bɪt.əl/ |
| Letters | 13 |
| Frequency rank | #87,671 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “phenobarbital” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
phenobarbital is uncommon English at frequency #87,671 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌfiː.nə(ʊ)ˈbɑː.bɪt.əl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A narcotic and sedative barbiturate drug used chiefly to treat epilepsy.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for phenobarbital, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From pheno- + barbital. The correct English form is phenobarbital, spelled P-H-E-N-O-B-A-R-B-I-T-A-L.
Definition
- 1A narcotic and sedative barbiturate drug used chiefly to treat epilepsy.
Etymology
From pheno- + 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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "phenobarbital", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 13 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.