selflessness

noun

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

"selflessness" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“selflessness” has 16 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #46,169. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#46,169
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
16
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The quality or state of being selfless.

Corpus desk

Index EN-selflessness · selflessness · English

selflessness · rank #46,169 · 16 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #46,169
  • LEN-MEGA 12 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 16 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH Seong

Nearest frequency peer: Seong (+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 “selflessness”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “selflessness” 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
Key facts for selflessness
PropertyValue
Headwordselflessness
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters12
Frequency rank#46,169
Misspellings tracked16
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “selflessness”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).selflessnesslands here:

#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. Same rarity band neighbours include “Seong” (#46,170), “sectoral” (#46,167), “sharps” (#46,172). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “selflessness” is #46,169. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 16 spelling variants around selflessness, anoun. Corpus frequency is #46,169 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Dominant gloss: "The quality or state of being selfless.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for selflessness, with forms such as "eslflessness", "sefllessness", and "selfelssness". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. 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 selfless + -ness. The correct English form is selflessness, spelled S-E-L-F-L-E-S-S-N-E-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    The quality or state of being selfless.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. But the truth is that I came to cherish Japan’s civility and selflessness.

Etymology

From selfless + -ness.

This word in other languages

altruismo(Español)altruisme(Français)Selbstlosigkeit(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • eslflessness
  • sefllessness
  • selfelssness
  • selfflessness
  • selflesness
  • selflesnsess
  • selflessenss
  • selflessnes
  • selflessnness
  • selflessnses
  • selfllessness
  • selflsesness
  • sellfessness
  • sellflessness
  • sleflessness
  • sselflessness

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of selflessness - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

eslflessness2sefllessness2selfelssness2selfflessness1selflesness1selflesnsess2selflessenss2selflessnes1
Edit distance from "selflessness"

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 "selflessness"?
"selflessness" is spelled S-E-L-F-L-E-S-S-N-E-S-S.
What does "selflessness" mean?
As a noun, "selflessness" means: The quality or state of being selfless.
What are common misspellings of "selflessness"?
Common misspellings include "eslflessness", "sefllessness", "selfelssness", "selfflessness", "selflesness". The correct spelling is "selflessness".
What is the origin of the word "selflessness"?
From selfless + -ness. 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 "selflessness", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 12 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Renfrewshire#46,144stratigraphy#46,199reappearance#46,134telemedicine#46,212

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (16 here; floor ≥5).

revisionism16 variantsresuscitate16 variantsstoryboard16 variantsturtleneck16 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list