postoperative

Name: postoperative, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/poʊstˈɑpəɹətɪv/

//poʊstˈɑpəɹətɪv// adj

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“postoperative” has 19 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #40,843. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#40,843
frequency rank, English: 4,417
“P” headwords: 19
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of, relating to, or occurring in the period after a surgical operation.

Corpus desk

Index EN-postoperative · postoperative · English

postoperative · rank #40,843 · 19 variants · 0 confusables

FREQ-MID #40,843
LEN-MEGA 13 letters
VOW-6 6 vowels
CONFUS-0 No pairs
VAR-HIGH 19 variants
BOOK-MID 4,417
PHOTO-FINISH pontoon

Nearest frequency peer: pontoon (-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.

plundering

59,162
poa

59,161
polymorphism

59,160
pontoon

59,159
postoperati…

59,158
pretrial

59,155

What this shows “postoperative” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Key facts for postoperative
Property	Value
Headword	postoperative
Language	English
Part of speech	Adjective
IPA	/poʊstˈɑpəɹətɪv/
Letters	13
Frequency rank	#40,843
Misspellings tracked	19
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “postoperative”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).postoperativelands here:

#40,843

#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. Same rarity band neighbours include “pontoon” (#40,842), “polymorphism” (#40,841), “poa” (#40,840). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “postoperative” is #40,843. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 19 spelling variants around postoperative (IPA /poʊstˈɑpəɹətɪv/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #40,843 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Of, relating to, or occurring in the period after a surgical operation.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 19 likely wrong-spelling variants for postoperative, with forms such as "opstoperative", "posotperative", and "posstoperative". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From post- + operative. The correct English form is postoperative, spelled P-O-S-T-O-P-E-R-A-T-I-V-E.

Definition

1
Of, relating to, or occurring in the period after a surgical operation.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how postoperative appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

The postoperative procedure is as follows.
1957, J. D. Salinger, "Zooey", in, 1961, Franny and Zooey, 1991 LB Books edition, page 139, She was looking even paler, more post-operative, as it were, than she had on waking.

Etymology

From post- + operative.

This word in other languages

postopératoire(Français)postoperativ(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

opstoperative
posotperative
posstoperative
postoeprative
postopeartive
postoperaitve
postoperatiev
postoperativve
postoperattive
postoperatvie
postoperrative
postopertaive
postopperative
postopreative
postpoerative
posttoperative
potsoperative
ppostoperative
psotoperative

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of postoperative - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

Edit distance from "postoperative"

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 "postoperative"?

"postoperative" is spelled P-O-S-T-O-P-E-R-A-T-I-V-E. The IPA pronunciation is /poʊstˈɑpəɹətɪv/.

What does "postoperative" mean?

As an adjective, "postoperative" means: Of, relating to, or occurring in the period after a surgical operation.

What are common misspellings of "postoperative"?

Common misspellings include "opstoperative", "posotperative", "posstoperative", "postoeprative", "postopeartive". The correct spelling is "postoperative".

How do you pronounce "postoperative"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "postoperative" is /poʊstˈɑpəɹətɪv/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.

What is the origin of the word "postoperative"?

From post- + operative. 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 "postoperative", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 13 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

professorship#40,850 rearrangement#40,867 monochromatic#40,801 subcontractor#40,911

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (19 here; floor ≥5).

hypertrophy19 variants unanticipated19 variants valedictorian19 variants endometriosis19 variants