psychedelic

/ˈsaɪ.kəˌdɛl.ɪk/

//ˈsaɪ.kəˌdɛl.ɪk// adj

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

"psychedelic" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“psychedelic” has 18 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #18,667. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#18,667
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
18
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of, containing, generating, or reminiscent of drug-induced hallucinations, distortions of perception, altered awareness, etc.

Corpus desk

Index EN-psychedelic · psychedelic · English

psychedelic · rank #18,667 · 18 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #18,667
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 18 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH propagation

Nearest frequency peer: propagation (-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 “psychedelic”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “psychedelic” 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
Key facts for psychedelic
PropertyValue
Headwordpsychedelic
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈsaɪ.kəˌdɛl.ɪk/
Letters11
Frequency rank#18,667
Misspellings tracked18
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “psychedelic”

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).psychedeliclands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “propagation” (#18,666), “Pune” (#18,668), “quieter” (#18,669). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “psychedelic” is #18,667. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 18 spelling variants around psychedelic (IPA /ˈsaɪ.kəˌdɛl.ɪk/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #18,667 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 18 likely wrong-spelling variants for psychedelic, with forms such as "ppsychedelic", "pscyhedelic", and "pssychedelic". 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. Our dataset records no confusable match here, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Ancient Greek ψυχή (psukhḗ, “mind, soul”) + δῆλος (dêlos, “manifest, visible”) + English -ic (prefix forming adjectives with the sense ‘of or pertaining to’), coined by the English psychiatrist Humphry Osmond (1917–2004) in a 1956 letter to Aldous Huxley. The correct English form is psychedelic, spelled P-S-Y-C-H-E-D-E-L-I-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of, containing, generating, or reminiscent of drug-induced hallucinations, distortions of perception, altered awareness, etc.
  2. 2
    Having bright colours, abstract shapes, etc. reminiscent of drug-induced hallucinations or distortions of perception.
  3. 3
    Awesome, cool, groovy.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. With those drugs has come the psychedelic philosophy, an impassioned belief in the self-revealing, mind-expanding powers of potent weeds and seeds and chemical compounds known to man since prehistory but wholly alien to the rationale of Western society.
  2. There was a woman sitting on the edge of his bed. She had coral-orange hair, beryl-blue eyes, arched brows, freckles, a coy smile, a psychedelic labcoat and she was, he suddenly realized, his best friend of over twenty years.

Etymology

From Ancient Greek ψυχή (psukhḗ, “mind, soul”) + δῆλος (dêlos, “manifest, visible”) + English -ic (prefix forming adjectives with the sense ‘of or pertaining to’), coined by the English psychiatrist Humphry Osmond (1917–2004) in a 1956 letter to Aldous Huxley.

This word in other languages

psicodélico(Español)psychédélique(Français)psychedelisch(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ppsychedelic
  • pscyhedelic
  • pssychedelic
  • psycchedelic
  • psycehdelic
  • psychdeelic
  • psycheddelic
  • psychedeilc
  • psychedelci
  • psychedelicc
  • psychedellic
  • psychedleic
  • psycheedlic
  • psychhedelic
  • psyhcedelic
  • psyychedelic
  • pyschedelic
  • spychedelic

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of psychedelic - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

ppsychedelic1pscyhedelic2pssychedelic1psycchedelic1psycehdelic2psychdeelic2psycheddelic1psychedeilc2
Edit distance from "psychedelic"

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 "psychedelic"?
"psychedelic" is spelled P-S-Y-C-H-E-D-E-L-I-C. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsaɪ.kəˌdɛl.ɪk/.
What does "psychedelic" mean?
As an adjective, "psychedelic" means: Of, containing, generating, or reminiscent of drug-induced hallucinations, distortions of perception, altered awareness, etc.
What are common misspellings of "psychedelic"?
Common misspellings include "ppsychedelic", "pscyhedelic", "pssychedelic", "psycchedelic", "psycehdelic". The correct spelling is "psychedelic".
How do you pronounce "psychedelic"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "psychedelic" is /ˈsaɪ.kəˌdɛl.ɪk/. 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 "psychedelic"?
From Ancient Greek ψυχή (psukhḗ, “mind, soul”) + δῆλος (dêlos, “manifest, visible”) + English -ic (prefix forming adjectives with the sense ‘of or pertaining to’), coined by the English psychiatrist Humphry Osmond (1917–2004) in a 1956 letter to A... 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 "psychedelic", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

propagation#18,666originality#18,639Maharashtra#18,615involuntary#18,596

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (18 here; floor ≥5).

socioeconomic18 variantsmarginalized18 variantsintellectually18 variantscylindrical18 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list