sorbitol
/ˈsɔː.bɪ.tɒl/
"sorbitol" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“sorbitol” is uncommon English (frequency #87,849 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #87,849
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A faintly sweet alcohol C₆H₁₄O₆ that occurs in some fruits, is made synthetically, and is used especially as a humectant and softener and in making ascorbic acid.
Corpus desk
Index EN-sorbitol · sorbitol · English
sorbitol · rank #87,849 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #87,849
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH sophomoric
Nearest frequency peer: sophomoric (-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.
Long-tail ranks near “sorbitol”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- snowballing
snowballing
12,157 corpus weight
- Solari
Solari
12,154 corpus weight
- sophomoric
sophomoric
12,153 corpus weight
- sorbitol
sorbitol
12,152 corpus weight
- souled
souled
12,151 corpus weight
- spacial
spacial
12,148 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “sorbitol” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | sorbitol |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈsɔː.bɪ.tɒl/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #87,849 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “sorbitol” in English
Rare enough to double-check
sorbitol is uncommon English at frequency #87,849 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈsɔː.bɪ.tɒl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A faintly sweet alcohol C₆H₁₄O₆ that occurs in some fruits, is made synthetically, and is used especially as a humectant and softener and in making ascorbic acid.".
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for sorbitol, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From earlier sorbite (from sorb + -ite) + -ol. By surface analysis, sorb + -itol. The correct English form is sorbitol, spelled S-O-R-B-I-T-O-L.
Definition
- 1A faintly sweet alcohol C₆H₁₄O₆ that occurs in some fruits, is made synthetically, and is used especially as a humectant and softener and in making ascorbic acid.
Etymology
From earlier sorbite (from sorb + -ite) + -ol. By surface analysis, sorb + -itol.
Synonyms
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); 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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "sorbitol", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).