roguelike

/ˈɹoʊɡlaɪk/

//ˈɹoʊɡlaɪk// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"roguelike" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“roguelike” is uncommon English (frequency #84,694 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#84,694
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of a genre of computer role playing games loosely characterized by various characteristics such as randomised environment generation, permadeath, turn-based movement, text-based or primitive ti...

Corpus desk

Index EN-roguelike · roguelike · English

roguelike · rank #84,694 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #84,694
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH Roquefort

Nearest frequency peer: Roquefort (+3 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 “roguelike”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “roguelike” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for roguelike
PropertyValue
Headwordroguelike
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈɹoʊɡlaɪk/
Letters9
Frequency rank#84,694
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “roguelike” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).roguelikefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “Roquefort” (#84,697), “rosella” (#84,698), “riverrun” (#84,689). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “roguelike” is #84,694. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

roguelike is uncommon English at frequency #84,694 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈɹoʊɡlaɪk/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Any of a genre of computer role playing games loosely characterized by various characteristics such as randomised environment generation, permadeath, turn-based movement, text-based or primitive ti...".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for roguelike, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Rogue (the name of a 1980 computer game which introduced the genre, from rogue) + -like. The correct English form is roguelike, spelled R-O-G-U-E-L-I-K-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Any of a genre of computer role playing games loosely characterized by various characteristics such as randomised environment generation, permadeath, turn-based movement, text-based or primitive tile-based graphics, and hack-and-slash gameplay.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. If you haven’t played a ‘roguelike’ before, it’s basically what happens when you take a twitchy hack-and-slash game like Diablo and make it boring, confusing, and frustrating.

Etymology

From Rogue (the name of a 1980 computer game which introduced the genre, from rogue) + -like.

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 "roguelike"?
"roguelike" is spelled R-O-G-U-E-L-I-K-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɹoʊɡlaɪk/.
What does "roguelike" mean?
As a noun, "roguelike" means: Any of a genre of computer role playing games loosely characterized by various characteristics such as randomised environment generation, permadeath, turn-based movement, text-based or primitive ti...
How do you pronounce "roguelike"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "roguelike" is /ˈɹoʊɡlaɪk/. 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 "roguelike"?
From Rogue (the name of a 1980 computer game which introduced the genre, from rogue) + -like. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "roguelike", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Roquefort#84,697redlining#84,667Scudamore#84,723reactance#84,658

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list