ribavirin
/ˌɹaɪ.bəˈvaɪ.ɹɪn/
"ribavirin" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ribavirin” is uncommon English (frequency #91,999 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #91,999
- frequency rank, English
- 3,094
- “R” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A synthetic analog of guanosine with chemical formula C₈H₁₂N₄O₅ that inhibits viral nucleic acid synthesis and is used as a broad-spectrum antiviral drug especially in the treatment of respiratory ...
Corpus desk
Index EN-ribavirin · ribavirin · English
ribavirin · rank #91,999 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #91,999
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,094
- PHOTO-FINISH Riccio
Nearest frequency peer: Riccio (+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.
Long-tail ranks near “ribavirin”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- rerelease
rerelease
8,012 corpus weight
- ribavirin
ribavirin
8,002 corpus weight
- Riccio
Riccio
8,001 corpus weight
- Ritch
Ritch
7,998 corpus weight
- rootkit
rootkit
7,992 corpus weight
- rooty
rooty
7,991 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “ribavirin” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ribavirin |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌɹaɪ.bəˈvaɪ.ɹɪn/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #91,999 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “ribavirin” in English
Rare enough to double-check
ribavirin is uncommon English at frequency #91,999 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˌɹaɪ.bəˈvaɪ.ɹɪn/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A synthetic analog of guanosine with chemical formula C₈H₁₂N₄O₅ that inhibits viral nucleic acid synthesis and is used as a broad-spectrum antiviral drug especially in the treatment of respiratory ...".
ribavirin has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From rib(oside) + -a- + -vir- (“antiviral”) + -in. The correct English form is ribavirin, spelled R-I-B-A-V-I-R-I-N.
Definition
- 1A synthetic analog of guanosine with chemical formula C₈H₁₂N₄O₅ that inhibits viral nucleic acid synthesis and is used as a broad-spectrum antiviral drug especially in the treatment of respiratory syncytial virus infection and chronic hepatitis C.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how ribavirin appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Due to the paucity of approved treatments, it should come as no surprise that thousands of PWAs/PWARCs have found it necessary to try some of the more widely available alternative treatments. These include DNCB (a compound applied topically that has been used for Kaposi's sarcoma), ribavirin (an anti-viral treatment) and isoprinosene (an immune enhancer).
Etymology
From rib(oside) + -a- + -vir- (“antiviral”) + -in.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ribavirin", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).