-philic

suffix

"philic" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

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

Unranked
below top-frequency English
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Synonym of -philous.

Key facts for -philic
PropertyValue
Headword-philic
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechSuffix
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “-philic” sits in English frequency

-philic falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

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

Rare enough to double-check

-philic is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as asuffix. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Synonym of -philous.".

No generated misspelling entries exist for -philic in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek φίλος (phílos, “love”) + -ic. By surface analysis, -phile + -ic. The correct English form is -philic, spelled --P-H-I-L-I-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    Synonym of -philous.

Etymology

From Ancient Greek φίλος (phílos, “love”) + -ic. By surface analysis, -phile + -ic.

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 "-philic"?
"-philic" is spelled --P-H-I-L-I-C.
What does "-philic" mean?
As a suffix, "-philic" means: Synonym of -philous.
What is the origin of the word "-philic"?
From Ancient Greek φίλος (phílos, “love”) + -ic. By surface analysis, -phile + -ic. 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.

Using “-philic”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is --P-H-I-L-I-C - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list