sexual

/sɛk.ʃuː.əl/

//sɛk.ʃuː.əl// adj

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

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

The verdict

“sexual” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,617. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,617
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
7
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Arising from the fact of being male or female; pertaining to sex or gender, or to the social relations between the sexes.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sexual · sexual · English

sexual · rank #1,617 · 8 variants · 7 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,617
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 7 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH seemed

Nearest frequency peer: seemed (-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 “sexual”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “sexual” 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).

sexual vs sexually
75% similar
sexual vs seal
67% similar
sexual vs Seoul
50% similar

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

Key facts for sexual
PropertyValue
Headwordsexual
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/sɛk.ʃuː.əl/
Letters6
Frequency rank#1,617
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs7
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “sexual”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).sexuallands 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 “seemed” (#1,616), “shouldn't” (#1,618), “seat” (#1,615). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sexual” is #1,617. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around sexual (IPA /sɛk.ʃuː.əl/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #1,617 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for sexual, with forms such as "esxual", "seuxal", and "sexaul". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 7 confusable-pair relationships, "sexually", "seal", "Seoul", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sek-der. Proto-Indo-European *séksusder. Proto-Italic *seksus Latin sexus Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin sexuālisbor. English sexual From Latin sexuālis, from sexus (“sex”), equivalent to sex + -ual. The correct English form is sexual, spelled S-E-X-U-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Arising from the fact of being male or female; pertaining to sex or gender, or to the social relations between the sexes.
  2. 2
    Capable of sexual reproduction; sexed, sexuate.
  3. 3
    Pertaining to sexual intercourse or other intimate physical contact.
  4. 4
    Characterised by sexual feelings or behaviour; possessing sexuality.
  5. 5
    Pertaining to sexuality as a cultural phenomenon; relating to sexual behaviour or conduct.
  6. 6
    Experiencing sexual attraction; not asexual.
  7. 7
    Pertaining to the female sex.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Women face sexual discrimination in the workplace.
  2. Giving oral sex is my favorite sexual act.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sek-der. Proto-Indo-European *séksusder. Proto-Italic *seksus Latin sexus Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin sexuālisbor. English sexual From Latin sexuālis, from sexus (“sex”), equivalent to sex + -ual.

This word in other languages

sexual(Español)sexuel(Français)sexual(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • esxual
  • seuxal
  • sexaul
  • sexuall
  • sexula
  • sexxual
  • ssexual
  • sxeual

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sexual - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

esxual2seuxal2sexaul2sexuall1sexula2sexxual1ssexual1sxeual2
Edit distance from "sexual"

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 "sexual"?
"sexual" is spelled S-E-X-U-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is /sɛk.ʃuː.əl/.
What does "sexual" mean?
As an adjective, "sexual" means: Arising from the fact of being male or female; pertaining to sex or gender, or to the social relations between the sexes.
What words are commonly confused with "sexual"?
"sexual" is commonly confused with "sexually", "seal", "Seoul". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sexual"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sexual" is /sɛk.ʃuː.əl/. 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 "sexual"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *sek-der. Proto-Indo-European *séksusder. Proto-Italic *seksus Latin sexus Proto-Italic *-ālis Latin -ālis Latin sexuālisbor. English sexual From Latin sexuālis, from sexus (“sex”), equivalent to sex + -ual. 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 "sexual", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

seemed#1,616target#1,619animal#1,623larger#1,605

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

village8 variantsChris8 variantsfailed8 variantsestate8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list