prodigious
/pɹəˈdɪd͡ʒəs/
"prodigious" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“prodigious” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #32,136 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #32,136
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 14
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Extraordinarily amazing.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | prodigious |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /pɹəˈdɪd͡ʒəs/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #32,136 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “prodigious” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for prodigious is 10 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /pɹəˈdɪd͡ʒəs/. Corpus data places it at rank #32,136 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for prodigious, with forms such as "pordigious", "pprodigious", and "prdoigious". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *pér Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *pró Proto-Indo-European *pro- Proto-Italic *pro- Latin prō- Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵ-der. Proto-Indo-European… The correct English form is prodigious, spelled P-R-O-D-I-G-I-O-U-S.
Definition
- 1Extraordinarily amazing.
- 2Extraordinarily amazing.
- 3Extraordinarily amazing.
- 4Very big in extent, quantity, or size; abundant; intense; colossal, huge.
- 5Having the nature of an omen or portent; ominous, portentous.
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *per-der.? Proto-Indo-European *pér Proto-Indo-European *-o Proto-Indo-European *pró Proto-Indo-European *pro- Proto-Italic *pro- Latin prō- Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵ-der. Proto-Indo-European *h₁ǵyéti Proto-Italic *agjō Latin aiō Proto-Indo-European *-yós Proto-Italic *-ios Old Latin -ios Latin -ius Latin -ium Latin prōdigium Proto-Indo-European *h₃ed-der. Proto-Indo-European *-h₃d-s-o-? Latin -ōsus Latin prōdigiōsusbor. Middle English prodigious English prodigious The adjective is derived from Late Middle English prodigious (“warning of disaster, portentous”), from Latin prōdigiōsus (“strange, unnatural; marvellous, wonderful, prodigious”), from prōdigium (“prophetic sign, omen, portent; prodigy, wonder”) + -ōsus (suffix meaning ‘full of’ forming adjectives from nouns). Prōdigium is derived from prō- (prefix denoting a forward direction, something before or prior, or prominence) + aiō (“to say, speak”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁eǵ- (“to say”)) + -ium (suffix forming abstract nouns). The English word is analysable as prodigy + -ous. The adverb is derived from the adjective. Cognates * Catalan prodigiós * Middle French prodigieux (“portentous”) (modern French prodigieux) * Italian prodigioso * Portuguese prodigioso * Spanish prodigioso
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: pordigious,pprodigious,prdoigious,proddigious,prodgiious,prodiggious,prodigiosu,prodigiouss,prodigiuos,prodigoius,prodiigous,proidgious,prrodigious,rpodigious
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of prodigious - 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.
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 "prodigious"?
What does "prodigious" mean?
What are common misspellings of "prodigious"?
How do you pronounce "prodigious"?
What is the origin of the word "prodigious"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “prodigious”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-R-O-D-I-G-I-O-U-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /pɹəˈdɪd͡ʒəs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.