pyrexia

/pʌɪˈrɛk.si.ə/

//pʌɪˈrɛk.si.ə// noun

"pyrexia" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“pyrexia” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
7
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Fever.

Corpus desk

Index EN-pyrexia · pyrexia · English

pyrexia · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "P" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for pyrexia
PropertyValue
Headwordpyrexia
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pʌɪˈrɛk.si.ə/
Letters7
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “pyrexia” in English

pyrexiaranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

pyrexia is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /pʌɪˈrɛk.si.ə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for pyrexia, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. 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 post-classical Latin pyrexia, from Ancient Greek πυρεξία (purexía, “feverishness”), from πυρετός (puretós, “fever”). The correct English form is pyrexia, spelled P-Y-R-E-X-I-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    Fever.
  2. 2
    Trench fever.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. The least defined pyrexiae were the continued fevers, divided mainly into typhus, enteric (typhoid) and relapsing.

Etymology

From post-classical Latin pyrexia, from Ancient Greek πυρεξία (purexía, “feverishness”), from πυρετός (puretós, “fever”).

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "pyrexia"?
"pyrexia" is spelled P-Y-R-E-X-I-A. The IPA pronunciation is /pʌɪˈrɛk.si.ə/.
What does "pyrexia" mean?
As a noun, "pyrexia" means: Fever.
How do you pronounce "pyrexia"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pyrexia" is /pʌɪˈrɛk.si.ə/. 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 "pyrexia"?
From post-classical Latin pyrexia, from Ancient Greek πυρεξία (purexía, “feverishness”), from πυρετός (puretós, “fever”). 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list