retard
/ɹɪˈtɑː(ɹ)d/
"retard" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“retard” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #17,936. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #17,936
- frequency rank, English
- 3,094
- “R” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A retardation; a delay.
Corpus desk
Index EN-retard · retard · English
retard · rank #17,936 · 9 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #17,936
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 9 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,094
- PHOTO-FINISH relic
Nearest frequency peer: relic (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “retard”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- rein
rein
82,067 corpus weight
- relic
relic
82,066 corpus weight
- retard
retard
82,065 corpus weight
- reunite
reunite
82,064 corpus weight
- reuse
reuse
82,063 corpus weight
- Reyes
Reyes
82,062 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “retard” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | retard |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɹɪˈtɑː(ɹ)d/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #17,936 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “retard” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around retard (IPA /ɹɪˈtɑː(ɹ)d/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #17,936 among 3,094 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for retard, with forms such as "ertard", "reatrd", and "retadr". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "retro", "retry", "return", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English retarden, from Anglo-Norman or Latin, from Anglo-Norman retarder, from Latin retardāre (“to retard”), from re- + tardus (“slow”). The correct English form is retard, spelled R-E-T-A-R-D.
Definition
- 1A retardation; a delay.
- 2A slowing down of the tempo; a ritardando.
- 3A person with mental retardation.
- 4A person or being who is extremely stupid or slow to learn.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how retard appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The retard in our class needs special help.
“That's 'cause your dog is a retard,” the large woman retorted. The pit bull must have sensed the insult because it got up on all fours and started barking at the woman. Not one to back down from an interspecies fight, the prison lady stood up […]
Etymology
From Middle English retarden, from Anglo-Norman or Latin, from Anglo-Norman retarder, from Latin retardāre (“to retard”), from re- + tardus (“slow”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ertard
- reatrd
- retadr
- retardd
- retarrd
- retrad
- rettard
- rretard
- rteard
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of retard - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "retard"?
What does "retard" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "retard"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "retard", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "retard". Here's where to go from here.
- "retard" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "retro". View pair
- 9 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #17,936 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "R" letter cohort. R–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.