recidivist
/ɹɪˈsɪdɪvɪst/
"recidivist" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“recidivist” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - One who falls back into prior habits, especially criminal habits.
Corpus desk
Index EN-recidivist · recidivist · English
recidivist · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "R" 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | recidivist |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɹɪˈsɪdɪvɪst/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “recidivist” in English
Rare enough to double-check
recidivist is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ɹɪˈsɪdɪvɪst/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "One who falls back into prior habits, especially criminal habits.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for recidivist in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French récidiviste, from Latin recidīvus (“returning, recurring”). Compare recidivous, -ist. By surface analysis, recidive + -ist. The correct English form is recidivist, spelled R-E-C-I-D-I-V-I-S-T.
Definition
- 1One who falls back into prior habits, especially criminal habits.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how recidivist appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
This specimen was of English parentage, was a professional burglar, a confirmed recidivist, and—since he habitually carried firearms—a potential homicide.
Persistent recidivists are "accidentally" left on the next habitable world. This practice of abandoning criminals on other people's planets is a point of friction between the quarians and the systems they pass through. Captains rarely have another choice; with space and resources at a premium, supporting a non-productive prison population is not an option.
Etymology
From French récidiviste, from Latin recidīvus (“returning, recurring”). Compare recidivous, -ist. By surface analysis, recidive + -ist.
This word in other languages
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.