serial killer
/ˈsɪəɹɪəl ˌkɪlə/
"serial-killer" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“serial killer” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 13
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person who commits multiple (more than two) murders, especially similar ones with no obvious motive over a period of time with a "cooling-off" period between each murder.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | serial killer |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsɪəɹɪəl ˌkɪlə/ |
| Letters | 13 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “serial killer” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
serial killer is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈsɪəɹɪəl ˌkɪlə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A person who commits multiple (more than two) murders, especially similar ones with no obvious motive over a period of time with a "cooling-off" period between each murder.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for serial killer in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct English form is serial killer, spelled S-E-R-I-A-L- -K-I-L-L-E-R.
Definition
- 1A person who commits multiple (more than two) murders, especially similar ones with no obvious motive over a period of time with a "cooling-off" period between each murder.
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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
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Using “serial killer”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-E-R-I-A-L- -K-I-L-L-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsɪəɹɪəl ˌkɪlə/ (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.