sublimation

noun

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

"sublimation" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sublimation” is uncommon English (frequency #52,655 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,655
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The transition of a substance from the solid phase directly to the vapor state such that it does not pass through the intermediate liquid phase.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sublimation · sublimation · English

sublimation · rank #52,655 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,655
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH suboptimal

Nearest frequency peer: suboptimal (+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 “sublimation”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “sublimation” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for sublimation
PropertyValue
Headwordsublimation
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters11
Frequency rank#52,655
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “sublimation” in English

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).sublimationfalls in this rarity band:

#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. Rare peers in the same band: “suboptimal” (#52,656), “strictures” (#52,653), “subsea” (#52,657). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sublimation” is #52,655. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

sublimation is uncommon English at frequency #52,655 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for sublimation, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English sublimacioun, sublimacion, from Medieval Latin sublīmātiō, from Latin sublīmō (“I raise, I elevate”, verb). Synchronically, sublimate + -ion. The correct English form is sublimation, spelled S-U-B-L-I-M-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    The transition of a substance from the solid phase directly to the vapor state such that it does not pass through the intermediate liquid phase.
  2. 2
    The transformation of an impulse into something socially constructive.
  3. 3
    Elevation; exaltation; a making sublime.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. It uses dry ice pellets (capsules of frozen carbon dioxide), blown at supersonic speed onto the railhead through a small nozzle. Any leaf contamination on the line is frozen, becoming brittle. The pellets then change instantly from solid to gas without going through a liquid stage (a process known as sublimation).

Etymology

From Middle English sublimacioun, sublimacion, from Medieval Latin sublīmātiō, from Latin sublīmō (“I raise, I elevate”, verb). Synchronically, sublimate + -ion.

This word in other languages

sublimación(Español)sublimation(Français)Sublimierung(Deutsch)sublimação(Português)

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 "sublimation"?
"sublimation" is spelled S-U-B-L-I-M-A-T-I-O-N.
What does "sublimation" mean?
As a noun, "sublimation" means: The transition of a substance from the solid phase directly to the vapor state such that it does not pass through the intermediate liquid phase.
What is the origin of the word "sublimation"?
From Middle English sublimacioun, sublimacion, from Medieval Latin sublīmātiō, from Latin sublīmō (“I raise, I elevate”, verb). Synchronically, sublimate + -ion. 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 "sublimation", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

unfavorably#52,697rediscovery#52,591pontificate#52,561phosphorous#52,551

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list