sadism

/ˈseɪdɪzəm/

//ˈseɪdɪzəm// noun

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

"sadism" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sadism” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #49,026. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#49,026
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
9
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The enjoyment of inflicting pain or humiliation without pity.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sadism · sadism · English

sadism · rank #49,026 · 9 variants · 9 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #49,026
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 9 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH Sagar

Nearest frequency peer: Sagar (+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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “sadism”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “sadism” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

sadism vs sais
67% similar
sadism vs sodium
67% similar
sadism vs sexism
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for sadism
PropertyValue
Headwordsadism
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈseɪdɪzəm/
Letters6
Frequency rank#49,026
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs9
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “sadism”

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).sadismlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Sagar” (#49,027), “saki” (#49,028), “Rudyard” (#49,023). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sadism” is #49,026. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around sadism (IPA /ˈseɪdɪzəm/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #49,026 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for sadism, with forms such as "asdism", "saddism", and "sadims". 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 9 confusable-pair relationships, "sais", "sodium", "sexism", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From French sadisme and German Sadismus. Named after the Marquis de Sade, famed for his libertine writings depicting the pleasure of inflicting pain to others. The word for "sadism" (sadisme) was coined or acknowledged in the 1834 posthumous reprint of Fren… The correct English form is sadism, spelled S-A-D-I-S-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    The enjoyment of inflicting pain or humiliation without pity.
  2. 2
    Achievement of sexual gratification by inflicting pain or humiliation on others, or watching pain or humiliation inflicted on others.
  3. 3
    Deliberate or wanton cruelty, either mental or physical, to other people, or to animals, regardless of whether for (sexual) gratification.

Etymology

From French sadisme and German Sadismus. Named after the Marquis de Sade, famed for his libertine writings depicting the pleasure of inflicting pain to others. The word for "sadism" (sadisme) was coined or acknowledged in the 1834 posthumous reprint of French lexicographer Boiste's Dictionnaire universel de la langue française; it is reused along with "sadist" (sadique) in 1862 by French critic Sainte-Beuve in his commentary of Flaubert's novel Salammbô; it is reused (possibly independently) in 1886 by Austrian psychiatrist Krafft-Ebing in Psychopathia Sexualis which popularized it; it is directly reused in 1905 by Freud in Three Essays on the Theory of Sexuality which definitively established the word.

This word in other languages

sadismo(Español)sadisme(Français)Sadismus(Deutsch)sadismo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • asdism
  • saddism
  • sadims
  • sadismm
  • sadissm
  • sadsim
  • saidsm
  • sdaism
  • ssadism

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sadism - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

asdism2saddism1sadims2sadismm1sadissm1sadsim2saidsm2sdaism2
Edit distance from "sadism"

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 "sadism"?
"sadism" is spelled S-A-D-I-S-M. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈseɪdɪzəm/.
What does "sadism" mean?
As a noun, "sadism" means: The enjoyment of inflicting pain or humiliation without pity.
What words are commonly confused with "sadism"?
"sadism" is commonly confused with "sais", "sodium", "sexism". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sadism"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sadism" is /ˈseɪdɪzəm/. 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 "sadism"?
From French sadisme and German Sadismus. Named after the Marquis de Sade, famed for his libertine writings depicting the pleasure of inflicting pain to others. The word for "sadism" (sadisme) was coined or acknowledged in the 1834 posthumous repri... 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 "sadism", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Schatz#49,034Scipio#49,035rhesus#49,015sealer#49,038

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

Shashi9 variantssifted9 variantspruned9 variantsstover9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list