precocious

/pɹəˈkəʊʃəs/

//pɹəˈkəʊʃəs// adj

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

"precocious" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“precocious” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #34,643. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#34,643
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Characterized by exceptionally early development or maturity.

Corpus desk

Index EN-precocious · precocious · English

precocious · rank #34,643 · 14 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #34,643
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH precede

Nearest frequency peer: precede (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “precocious”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

precocious vs precious
80% similar
precocious vs precarious
80% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for precocious
PropertyValue
Headwordprecocious
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/pɹəˈkəʊʃəs/
Letters10
Frequency rank#34,643
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “precocious”

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “precede” (#34,642), “preconceived” (#34,644), “pollute” (#34,640). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “precocious” is #34,643. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around precocious (IPA /pɹəˈkəʊʃəs/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #34,643 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for precocious, with forms such as "percocious", "pprecocious", and "prceocious". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "precious", "precarious", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin praecox (“premature, precocious, ripe before time, early ripe”), from praecoquō (“to ripen beforehand, ripen fully, also boil beforehand”), from prae (“before”) + coquō (“to cook, boil, ripen”). Doublet of apricot. The correct English form is precocious, spelled P-R-E-C-O-C-I-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Characterized by exceptionally early development or maturity.
  2. 2
    Exhibiting advanced skills and aptitudes at an abnormally early age.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The precocious plant was already blooming flowers by day 4.
  2. Now those abominations whom you call precocious boys—your little pet monsters, doctor!—and who can wonder that the world is what it is? when it is full of them—as they will have no divine time to look back upon in their own lives, how can they believe in innocence and goodness, or be other than sons of selfishness and the Devil?

Etymology

From Latin praecox (“premature, precocious, ripe before time, early ripe”), from praecoquō (“to ripen beforehand, ripen fully, also boil beforehand”), from prae (“before”) + coquō (“to cook, boil, ripen”). Doublet of apricot.

This word in other languages

précoce(Français)frühreif(Deutsch)precoce(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • percocious
  • pprecocious
  • prceocious
  • preccocious
  • preccoious
  • precoccious
  • precociosu
  • precociouss
  • precociuos
  • precocoius
  • precoicous
  • preoccious
  • prrecocious
  • rpecocious

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of precocious - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

percocious2pprecocious1prceocious2preccocious1preccoious2precoccious1precociosu2precociouss1
Edit distance from "precocious"

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 "precocious"?
"precocious" is spelled P-R-E-C-O-C-I-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /pɹəˈkəʊʃəs/.
What does "precocious" mean?
As an adjective, "precocious" means: Characterized by exceptionally early development or maturity.
What words are commonly confused with "precocious"?
"precocious" is commonly confused with "precious", "precarious". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "precocious"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "precocious" is /pɹəˈkəʊʃəs/. 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 "precocious"?
From Latin praecox (“premature, precocious, ripe before time, early ripe”), from praecoquō (“to ripen beforehand, ripen fully, also boil beforehand”), from prae (“before”) + coquō (“to cook, boil, ripen”). Doublet of apricot. 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 "precocious", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

petitioner#34,631nutcracker#34,613mindedness#34,593meditative#34,585

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

shrieking14 variantsMaximilian14 variantsTransvaal14 variantsTuscaloosa14 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list