saccharine
/ˈsækəɹaɪn/
"saccharine" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“saccharine” is an uncommon English word, ranked #54,453 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #54,453
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of or relating to sugar; sugary.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | saccharine |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈsækəɹaɪn/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #54,453 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “saccharine” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for saccharine is 10 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsækəɹaɪn/. Corpus data places it at rank #54,453 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
saccharine has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From New Latin saccharum (“sugar”) + English -ine (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Saccharum is derived from saccharon (“syrupy liquid from bamboo or reeds”), from Ancient Greek σάκχαρον (sákkharon), from Pali sakkharā (“sugar; gra… The correct English form is saccharine, spelled S-A-C-C-H-A-R-I-N-E.
Definition
- 1Of or relating to sugar; sugary.
- 2Containing a large or excessive amount of sugar.
- 3Excessively sweet in action or disposition, especially if romantic or sentimental to the point of ridiculousness; sickly sweet, syrupy.
- 4Resembling granulated sugar; saccharoid.
Etymology
From New Latin saccharum (“sugar”) + English -ine (suffix meaning ‘of or pertaining to’ forming adjectives). Saccharum is derived from saccharon (“syrupy liquid from bamboo or reeds”), from Ancient Greek σάκχαρον (sákkharon), from Pali sakkharā (“sugar; gravel; granule, grain; crystal; potsherd”), from Sanskrit शर्करा (śárkarā, “ground or candied sugar; cotton sugar, sugarmaple; gravel, grit, pebbles; potsherd”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱorkeh₂ (“boulder; gravel”).
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 “saccharine”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-A-C-C-H-A-R-I-N-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsækəɹaɪn/ (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
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.