photosensitive

adj

"photosensitive" is a 14-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“photosensitive” is uncommon English (frequency #66,925 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#66,925
frequency rank, English
46,516
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - having a reaction to, or able to be affected by, light

Key facts for photosensitive
PropertyValue
Headwordphotosensitive
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters14
Frequency rank#66,925
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “photosensitive” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). photosensitive lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

photosensitive is uncommon English at frequency #66,925 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "having a reaction to, or able to be affected by, light".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for photosensitive, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.

Etymologically, the entry records: From photo- + sensitive. The correct English form is photosensitive, spelled P-H-O-T-O-S-E-N-S-I-T-I-V-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    having a reaction to, or able to be affected by, light

Etymology

From photo- + sensitive.

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

How do you spell "photosensitive"?
"photosensitive" is spelled P-H-O-T-O-S-E-N-S-I-T-I-V-E.
What does "photosensitive" mean?
As an adjective, "photosensitive" means: having a reaction to, or able to be affected by, light
What is the origin of the word "photosensitive"?
From photo- + sensitive. 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 “photosensitive”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is P-H-O-T-O-S-E-N-S-I-T-I-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list