psychosis

/saɪˈkəʊsɪs/

//saɪˈkəʊsɪs// noun

"psychosis" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“psychosis” has 15 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #21,321. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#21,321
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
15
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A severe mental disorder, sometimes with physical damage to the brain, marked by a deranged personality and a distorted view of reality.

Corpus desk

Index EN-psychosis · psychosis · English

psychosis · rank #21,321 · 15 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #21,321
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH prerequisite

Nearest frequency peer: prerequisite (-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 “psychosis”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “psychosis” 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).

psychosis vs psychotic
78% similar

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

Key facts for psychosis
PropertyValue
Headwordpsychosis
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/saɪˈkəʊsɪs/
Letters9
Frequency rank#21,321
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “psychosis”

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “prerequisite” (#21,320), “quantify” (#21,322), “PowerPoint” (#21,319). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “psychosis” is #21,321. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around psychosis (IPA /saɪˈkəʊsɪs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #21,321 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Dominant gloss: "A severe mental disorder, sometimes with physical damage to the brain, marked by a deranged personality and a distorted view of reality.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for psychosis, with forms such as "ppsychosis", "pscyhosis", and "pssychosis". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "psychotic", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From psych- + -osis or from Ancient Greek ψύχωσις (psúkhōsis, “animation, principle of life”). The correct English form is psychosis, spelled P-S-Y-C-H-O-S-I-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    A severe mental disorder, sometimes with physical damage to the brain, marked by a deranged personality and a distorted view of reality.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Manganism has been known about since the 19th century, when miners exposed to ores containing manganese[…]began to totter, slur their speech and behave like someone inebriated. The poisoning was irreversible, and soon ended in psychosis and death.

Etymology

From psych- + -osis or from Ancient Greek ψύχωσις (psúkhōsis, “animation, principle of life”).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ppsychosis
  • pscyhosis
  • pssychosis
  • psycchosis
  • psychhosis
  • psychoiss
  • psychosiss
  • psychossi
  • psychossis
  • psychsois
  • psycohsis
  • psyhcosis
  • psyychosis
  • pyschosis
  • spychosis

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ppsychosis1pscyhosis2pssychosis1psycchosis1psychhosis1psychoiss2psychosiss1psychossi2
Edit distance from "psychosis"

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 "psychosis"?
"psychosis" is spelled P-S-Y-C-H-O-S-I-S. The IPA pronunciation is /saɪˈkəʊsɪs/.
What does "psychosis" mean?
As a noun, "psychosis" means: A severe mental disorder, sometimes with physical damage to the brain, marked by a deranged personality and a distorted view of reality.
What words are commonly confused with "psychosis"?
"psychosis" is commonly confused with "psychotic". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "psychosis"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "psychosis" is /saɪˈkəʊsɪs/. 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 "psychosis"?
From psych- + -osis or from Ancient Greek ψύχωσις (psúkhōsis, “animation, principle of life”). 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 "psychosis", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list