spendthrift
/ˈspɛn(d)θɹɪft/
"spendthrift" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“spendthrift” is uncommon English (frequency #72,783 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #72,783
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Improvident, profligate, or wasteful.
Corpus desk
Index EN-spendthrift · spendthrift · English
spendthrift · rank #72,783 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #72,783
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH speckle
Nearest frequency peer: speckle (-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 “spendthrift”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- soundcheck
soundcheck
27,221 corpus weight
- Southey
Southey
27,220 corpus weight
- speckle
speckle
27,219 corpus weight
- spendthrift
spendthrift
27,218 corpus weight
- Spey
Spey
27,217 corpus weight
- spie
spie
27,216 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “spendthrift” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | spendthrift |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈspɛn(d)θɹɪft/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #72,783 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “spendthrift” in English
Rare enough to double-check
spendthrift is uncommon English at frequency #72,783 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈspɛn(d)θɹɪft/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for spendthrift, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From spend + thrift (“(archaic) savings; profits; wealth”). The correct English form is spendthrift, spelled S-P-E-N-D-T-H-R-I-F-T.
Definition
- 1Improvident, profligate, or wasteful.
- 2Extravagant or lavish.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how spendthrift appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Wel, go to wild oats, ſpend thrift prodigal, / Ile croſſe thy name quight from my reckning booke: / For theſe accounts, faith it ſhall ſcath thee ſome what, / I will not ſay what, ſomewhat it ſhall be.
He was now esteemed quite worthy to address the daughter of a foolish, spendthrift baronet, who had not had principle or sense enough to maintain himself in the situation in which Providence had placed him, and who could give his daughter at present but a small part of the share of ten thousand pounds which must be hers hereafter.
Etymology
From spend + thrift (“(archaic) savings; profits; wealth”).
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 "spendthrift", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).