psychopath

/ˈsaɪkoʊˌpæθ/

//ˈsaɪkoʊˌpæθ// noun

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

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

The verdict

“psychopath” has 17 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #19,179. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#19,179
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
17
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A person with a personality disorder indicated by a pattern of lying, cunning, manipulating, glibness, exploiting, heedlessness, arrogance, delusions of grandeur, carelessness, low self-control, di...

Corpus desk

Index EN-psychopath · psychopath · English

psychopath · rank #19,179 · 17 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #19,179
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 17 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH PSG

Nearest frequency peer: PSG (-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 “psychopath”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “psychopath” 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).

psychopath vs psychopaths
91% similar
psychopath vs psychopathic
83% similar

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

Key facts for psychopath
PropertyValue
Headwordpsychopath
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈsaɪkoʊˌpæθ/
Letters10
Frequency rank#19,179
Misspellings tracked17
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “psychopath”

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

#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 “PSG” (#19,178), “pups” (#19,180), “Psalms” (#19,177). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “psychopath” is #19,179. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 17 spelling variants around psychopath (IPA /ˈsaɪkoʊˌpæθ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #19,179 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for psychopath, with forms such as "ppsychopath", "pscyhopath", and "pssychopath". 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. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "psychopaths", "psychopathic", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From German psychopathisch, from Ancient Greek ψυχή (psukhḗ, “soul”) + πάθος (páthos, “suffering”). The correct English form is psychopath, spelled P-S-Y-C-H-O-P-A-T-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    A person with a personality disorder indicated by a pattern of lying, cunning, manipulating, glibness, exploiting, heedlessness, arrogance, delusions of grandeur, carelessness, low self-control, disregard for morality, lack of acceptance of responsibility, callousness, and lack of empathy and remorse. Such a person may be especially prone to violent and criminal offenses.
  2. 2
    A person with no moral conscience.
  3. 3
    A person who perpetrates especially gruesome or bizarre violent acts.
  4. 4
    A person diagnosed with antisocial or dissocial personality disorder.
  5. 5
    A person diagnosed with any mental disorder.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Now the real difference between now and then was that Trump wasn't looking to do much of anything positive for the American people as a whole. He mainly enriched himself and his family and gave rich people another tax cut. I think as far as Republicans being psychopaths I would say yes but it's probably a bit more complicated. The party is struggling to m…

Etymology

From German psychopathisch, from Ancient Greek ψυχή (psukhḗ, “soul”) + πάθος (páthos, “suffering”).

This word in other languages

psicópata(Español)psychopathe(Français)Psychopath(Deutsch)psicopata(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ppsychopath
  • pscyhopath
  • pssychopath
  • psycchopath
  • psychhopath
  • psychoapth
  • psychopaht
  • psychopathh
  • psychopatth
  • psychoppath
  • psychoptah
  • psychpoath
  • psycohpath
  • psyhcopath
  • psyychopath
  • pyschopath
  • spychopath

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ppsychopath1pscyhopath2pssychopath1psycchopath1psychhopath1psychoapth2psychopaht2psychopathh1
Edit distance from "psychopath"

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 "psychopath"?
"psychopath" is spelled P-S-Y-C-H-O-P-A-T-H. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈsaɪkoʊˌpæθ/.
What does "psychopath" mean?
As a noun, "psychopath" means: A person with a personality disorder indicated by a pattern of lying, cunning, manipulating, glibness, exploiting, heedlessness, arrogance, delusions of grandeur, carelessness, low self-control, di...
What words are commonly confused with "psychopath"?
"psychopath" is commonly confused with "psychopaths", "psychopathic". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "psychopath"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "psychopath" is /ˈsaɪkoʊˌpæθ/. 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 "psychopath"?
From German psychopathisch, from Ancient Greek ψυχή (psukhḗ, “soul”) + πάθος (páthos, “suffering”). 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 "psychopath", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

redundancy#19,184reelection#19,185rendezvous#19,189reversible#19,191

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (17 here; floor ≥5).

preparedness17 variantsperpetrator17 variantsselectively17 variantssupervisory17 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list