skeptic

/ˈskɛp.tɪk/

//ˈskɛp.tɪk// noun

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

"skeptic" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“skeptic” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #33,419. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#33,419
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Someone who doubts beliefs, claims, plans, etc. that are accepted by others as true or appropriate, especially one who habitually does so.

Corpus desk

Index EN-skeptic · skeptic · English

skeptic · rank #33,419 · 11 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #33,419
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH shrinkage

Nearest frequency peer: shrinkage (-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 “skeptic”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “skeptic” 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).

skeptic vs skeptical
78% similar
skeptic vs septic
86% similar

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

Key facts for skeptic
PropertyValue
Headwordskeptic
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈskɛp.tɪk/
Letters7
Frequency rank#33,419
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “skeptic”

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).skepticlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “shrinkage” (#33,418), “slacks” (#33,420), “sleeveless” (#33,421). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “skeptic” is #33,419. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around skeptic (IPA /ˈskɛp.tɪk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #33,419 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for skeptic, with forms such as "kseptic", "sekptic", and "skepitc". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "skeptical", "septic", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French sceptique (but with a pronunciation closer to that of the Greek etymon), or possibly directly from Late Latin scepticus (originally attested only in the plural Scepticī (“the sect of Skeptics”)), from Ancient Greek σκεπτικός (ske… The correct English form is skeptic, spelled S-K-E-P-T-I-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    Someone who doubts beliefs, claims, plans, etc. that are accepted by others as true or appropriate, especially one who habitually does so.
  2. 2
    Someone who is skeptical towards religion.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. But for the fly he might have made me think He had been at his poetry , comparing Nailhead with fly and fly with huckleberry : How like a fly , how very like a fly . But the real fly he missed would never do ; The missed fly made me dangerously skeptic.[…]
  2. The official account of this meeting was that it ended in failure, with the Taliban's mullah Omar telling General Ahmed, “Osama will be the last person to leave Afghanistan.” The 9/11 skeptics believe that meeting was meant to fail.

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French sceptique (but with a pronunciation closer to that of the Greek etymon), or possibly directly from Late Latin scepticus (originally attested only in the plural Scepticī (“the sect of Skeptics”)), from Ancient Greek σκεπτικός (skeptikós, “thoughtful, inquiring”), from σκέπτομαι (sképtomai, “I consider”), compare to σκοπέω (skopéō, “I view, examine”).

This word in other languages

escéptico(Español)sceptique(Français)Skeptiker(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • kseptic
  • sekptic
  • skepitc
  • skepptic
  • skeptci
  • skepticc
  • skepttic
  • sketpic
  • skkeptic
  • skpetic
  • sskeptic

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of skeptic - 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.

kseptic2sekptic2skepitc2skepptic1skeptci2skepticc1skepttic1sketpic2
Edit distance from "skeptic"

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 "skeptic"?
"skeptic" is spelled S-K-E-P-T-I-C. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈskɛp.tɪk/.
What does "skeptic" mean?
As a noun, "skeptic" means: Someone who doubts beliefs, claims, plans, etc. that are accepted by others as true or appropriate, especially one who habitually does so.
What words are commonly confused with "skeptic"?
"skeptic" is commonly confused with "skeptical", "septic". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "skeptic"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "skeptic" is /ˈskɛp.tɪk/. 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 "skeptic"?
Borrowed from Middle French sceptique (but with a pronunciation closer to that of the Greek etymon), or possibly directly from Late Latin scepticus (originally attested only in the plural Scepticī (“the sect of Skeptics”)), from Ancient Greek σκεπ... 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 "skeptic", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

sawmill#33,409sweeper#33,441retards#33,396rebrand#33,389

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

shoutout11 variantsrepeater11 variantsTelford11 variantsTenerife11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list