poorhouse

noun

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

"poorhouse" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“poorhouse” is uncommon English (frequency #78,949 among 4,417 “P” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#78,949
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A charitable institution where poor or homeless people are lodged.

Corpus desk

Index EN-poorhouse · poorhouse · English

poorhouse · rank #78,949 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #78,949
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH pone

Nearest frequency peer: pone (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “poorhouse”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “poorhouse” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for poorhouse
PropertyValue
Headwordpoorhouse
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters9
Frequency rank#78,949
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “poorhouse” in English

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).poorhousefalls in this rarity band:

#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. Rare peers in the same band: “pone” (#78,948), “portcullis” (#78,951), “Pomerania” (#78,946). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “poorhouse” is #78,949. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

poorhouse is uncommon English at frequency #78,949 among 4,417 “P” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for poorhouse, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. 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: From poor + house. The correct English form is poorhouse, spelled P-O-O-R-H-O-U-S-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A charitable institution where poor or homeless people are lodged.
  2. 2
    A workhouse.

Etymology

From poor + house.

This word in other languages

hospice(Français)Armenhaus(Deutsch)abrigo(Português)

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 "poorhouse"?
"poorhouse" is spelled P-O-O-R-H-O-U-S-E.
What does "poorhouse" mean?
As a noun, "poorhouse" means: A charitable institution where poor or homeless people are lodged.
What is the origin of the word "poorhouse"?
From poor + house. 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 "poorhouse", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Pomerania#78,946polythene#78,945privation#78,960Peekskill#78,928

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list