redshift
/ˈɹɛdˌʃɪft/
"redshift" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“redshift” is uncommon English (frequency #55,684 among 21,470 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #55,684
- frequency rank, English
- 21,470
- “R” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An increase in the wavelength of a photon or of light, corresponding to a lower frequency and a shift toward the red end of the electromagnetic spectrum.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | redshift |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɹɛdˌʃɪft/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #55,684 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “redshift” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
redshift is uncommon English at frequency #55,684 among 21,470 “R” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɹɛdˌʃɪft/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An increase in the wavelength of a photon or of light, corresponding to a lower frequency and a shift toward the red end of the electromagnetic spectrum.".
The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for redshift, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From red + shift. The correct English form is redshift, spelled R-E-D-S-H-I-F-T.
Definition
- 1An increase in the wavelength of a photon or of light, corresponding to a lower frequency and a shift toward the red end of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Etymology
From red + shift.
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); 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
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Using “redshift”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-D-S-H-I-F-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɹɛdˌʃɪft/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.