telepathy

/tɛˈlɛp.ə.θi/

//tɛˈlɛp.ə.θi// noun

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

"telepathy" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“telepathy” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #33,876. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#33,876
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The capability to communicate directly by psychic means; the sympathetic affection of one mind by the thoughts, feelings, or emotions of another at a distance, without communication through the ord...

Corpus desk

Index EN-telepathy · telepathy · English

telepathy · rank #33,876 · 14 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #33,876
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH Tavares

Nearest frequency peer: Tavares (-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 “telepathy”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “telepathy” 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).

telepathy vs telepathic
80% similar

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

Key facts for telepathy
PropertyValue
Headwordtelepathy
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/tɛˈlɛp.ə.θi/
Letters9
Frequency rank#33,876
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “telepathy”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).telepathylands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “Tavares” (#33,875), “tartar” (#33,874), “thane” (#33,878). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “telepathy” is #33,876. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around telepathy (IPA /tɛˈlɛp.ə.θi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #33,876 among 3,151 “T” headwords. Dominant gloss: "The capability to communicate directly by psychic means; the sympathetic affection of one mind by the thoughts, feelings, or emotions of another at a distance, without communication through the ord...".

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for telepathy, with forms such as "etlepathy", "teelpathy", and "teleapthy". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "telepathic", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From tele- + -pathy. The correct English form is telepathy, spelled T-E-L-E-P-A-T-H-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The capability to communicate directly by psychic means; the sympathetic affection of one mind by the thoughts, feelings, or emotions of another at a distance, without communication through the ordinary channels of sensation.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. Gerwin Schalk and Anthony Ritaccio, at the Albany Medical Center, are working under a multimillion-dollar grant from the U.S. military to design and develop devices that enable soldiers to communicate telepathically. Although this seems like something out of a science fiction story, the Pentagon believes that these so-called telepathy helmets are sufficie…

Etymology

From tele- + -pathy.

This word in other languages

telepatía(Español)télépathie(Français)Telepathie(Deutsch)telepatia(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • etlepathy
  • teelpathy
  • teleapthy
  • telepahty
  • telepathhy
  • telepathyy
  • telepatthy
  • telepatyh
  • teleppathy
  • teleptahy
  • tellepathy
  • telpeathy
  • tleepathy
  • ttelepathy

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of telepathy - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

etlepathy2teelpathy2teleapthy2telepahty2telepathhy1telepathyy1telepatthy1telepatyh2
Edit distance from "telepathy"

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 "telepathy"?
"telepathy" is spelled T-E-L-E-P-A-T-H-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /tɛˈlɛp.ə.θi/.
What does "telepathy" mean?
As a noun, "telepathy" means: The capability to communicate directly by psychic means; the sympathetic affection of one mind by the thoughts, feelings, or emotions of another at a distance, without communication through the ord...
What words are commonly confused with "telepathy"?
"telepathy" is commonly confused with "telepathic". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "telepathy"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "telepathy" is /tɛˈlɛp.ə.θi/. 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 "telepathy"?
From tele- + -pathy. 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 "telepathy", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

thesaurus#33,879thrusters#33,881strongman#33,862statesmen#33,859

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

tactically14 variantswaterfowl14 variantsadmissible14 variantsascendant14 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list