suicide

/ˈs(j)uːɪˌsaɪd/

//ˈs(j)uːɪˌsaɪd// noun

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

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

The verdict

“suicide” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,409. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,409
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The act of intentionally killing oneself.

Corpus desk

Index EN-suicide · suicide · English

suicide · rank #2,409 · 9 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,409
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH struggle

Nearest frequency peer: struggle (-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 “suicide”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “suicide” 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).

suicide vs sulfide
71% similar
suicide vs subside
71% similar
suicide vs suicidal
75% similar

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

Key facts for suicide
PropertyValue
Headwordsuicide
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈs(j)uːɪˌsaɪd/
Letters7
Frequency rank#2,409
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “suicide”

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).suicidelands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “struggle” (#2,408), “talked” (#2,410), “stream” (#2,407). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “suicide” is #2,409. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around suicide (IPA /ˈs(j)uːɪˌsaɪd/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,409 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for suicide, with forms such as "siucide", "ssuicide", and "suciide". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "sulfide", "subside", "suicidal", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: First attested in Thomas Browne's Religio Medici (1643) in noun sense 1, ostensibly from New Latin suīcīdium, from suī (genitive reflexive pronoun) + -cīdium (“act of killing or murder”), but often believed to have originated in English before entering Lati… The correct English form is suicide, spelled S-U-I-C-I-D-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act of intentionally killing oneself.
  2. 2
    A particular instance of a person intentionally killing oneself, or of multiple people doing so.
  3. 3
    A person who has intentionally killed themself.
  4. 4
    An action that could cause the literal or figurative death of a person or organization, although death is not the aim of the action.
  5. 5
    A beverage combining all available flavors at a soda fountain.
  6. 6
    A diabolo trick where one of the sticks is released and allowed to rotate 360° round the diabolo until it is caught by the hand that released it.
  7. 7
    A run comprising a series of sprints of increasing lengths, each followed immediately by a return to the start, with no pause between one sprint and the next.
  8. 8
    A children's game of throwing a ball against a wall and at other players, who are eliminated by being struck.
  9. 9
    Pertaining to a suicide bombing.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. As a nation of freemen, we must live through all time, or die by suicide.
  2. The cowardice of suicide was abhorrent to him.

Etymology

First attested in Thomas Browne's Religio Medici (1643) in noun sense 1, ostensibly from New Latin suīcīdium, from suī (genitive reflexive pronoun) + -cīdium (“act of killing or murder”), but often believed to have originated in English before entering Latin. Displaced native Middle English seolf-cwale from Old English selfcwalu (literally “self-slaughter”), after which suicide may have been modelled, or calqued (compare manuscript). Noun sense 3 is perhaps by analogy with words like homicide, patricide (see -cide), or, although unlikely, from Medieval Latin suīcīda; see the Etymology section at suīcīdium.

Synonyms

autohomicideself-bloodself-deletionself-killingself-murderself-slaughterself-slayingsewer slidesillycidesuicism

This word in other languages

suicidio(Español)suicide(Français)Suizid(Deutsch)suicídio(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • siucide
  • ssuicide
  • suciide
  • suiccide
  • suicdie
  • suicidde
  • suicied
  • suiicde
  • usicide

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

siucide2ssuicide1suciide2suiccide1suicdie2suicidde1suicied2suiicde2
Edit distance from "suicide"

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 "suicide"?
"suicide" is spelled S-U-I-C-I-D-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈs(j)uːɪˌsaɪd/.
What does "suicide" mean?
As a noun, "suicide" means: The act of intentionally killing oneself.
What words are commonly confused with "suicide"?
"suicide" is commonly confused with "sulfide", "subside", "suicidal". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "suicide"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "suicide" is /ˈs(j)uːɪˌsaɪd/. 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 "suicide"?
First attested in Thomas Browne's Religio Medici (1643) in noun sense 1, ostensibly from New Latin suīcīdium, from suī (genitive reflexive pronoun) + -cīdium (“act of killing or murder”), but often believed to have originated in English before ent... 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 "suicide", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

serving#2,405moments#2,398alcohol#2,424kingdom#2,394

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

talked9 variantsstream9 variantssignal9 variantsopposite9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list