supplementary
"supplementary" is a 13-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“supplementary” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #18,199 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #18,199
- frequency rank, English
- 13
- letters
- 19
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Additional; added to supply what is wanted.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | supplementary |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 13 |
| Frequency rank | #18,199 |
| Misspellings tracked | 19 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “supplementary” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for supplementary is 13 letters long, classified as an adjective. Corpus data places it at rank #18,199 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Additional; added to supply what is wanted.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 19 likely wrong-spelling variants for supplementary, with forms such as "spuplementary", "ssupplementary", and "suplementary". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "supplemental", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From supplement + -ary; compare French supplémentaire. The correct English form is supplementary, spelled S-U-P-P-L-E-M-E-N-T-A-R-Y.
Definition
- 1Additional; added to supply what is wanted.
Etymology
From supplement + -ary; compare French supplémentaire.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: spuplementary,ssupplementary,suplementary,suplpementary,suppelmentary,suppleemntary,supplemenatry,supplemenntary,supplementarry,supplementaryy,supplementayr,supplementray,supplementtary,supplemetnary,supplemmentary,supplemnetary,suppllementary,supplmeentary,uspplementary
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of supplementary - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "supplementary"?
What does "supplementary" mean?
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Using “supplementary”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-U-P-P-L-E-M-E-N-T-A-R-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Don't mix it up with “supplemental” - see the side-by-side comparison. supplementary vs supplemental
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.