stepchild
"stepchild" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“stepchild” is uncommon English (frequency #76,362 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #76,362
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The child of one's spouse from a previous relationship.
Corpus desk
Index EN-stepchild · stepchild · English
stepchild · rank #76,362 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #76,362
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH Staci
Nearest frequency peer: Staci (-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 “stepchild”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Spitsbergen
Spitsbergen
23,643 corpus weight
- Staci
Staci
23,640 corpus weight
- stepchild
stepchild
23,639 corpus weight
- stodgy
stodgy
23,638 corpus weight
- Strabane
Strabane
23,637 corpus weight
- Stretford
Stretford
23,636 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “stepchild” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | stepchild |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #76,362 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “stepchild” in English
Rare enough to double-check
stepchild is uncommon English at frequency #76,362 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for stepchild, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English stepchild, stepchyld, from Old English stēopċild (“stepchild”), equivalent to step- + child. Compare Dutch stiefkind (“stepchild”), German Stiefkind (“stepchild”), Swedish styvbarn (“stepchild”). The correct English form is stepchild, spelled S-T-E-P-C-H-I-L-D.
Definition
- 1The child of one's spouse from a previous relationship.
- 2A bereaved child; one who has lost father or mother.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how stepchild appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Calculating the growth in stepfamilies isn’t simple, but a demographic analysis published last year estimated that about 16 percent of Americans over age 70 have at least one stepchild. […] Overall, stepchildren provide less care to older adults
Etymology
From Middle English stepchild, stepchyld, from Old English stēopċild (“stepchild”), equivalent to step- + child. Compare Dutch stiefkind (“stepchild”), German Stiefkind (“stepchild”), Swedish styvbarn (“stepchild”).
Antonyms
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 "stepchild", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).