thalidomide

/θəˈlɪdəˌmaɪd/

//θəˈlɪdəˌmaɪd// noun

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

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

The verdict

“thalidomide” is uncommon English (frequency #59,759 among 3,151 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#59,759
frequency rank, English
3,151
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A drug sold during the late 1950s and early 1960s as a sleeping aid, and to pregnant women as an antiemetic to combat morning sickness and other symptoms, but withdrawn as causing severe birth defe...

Corpus desk

Index EN-thalidomide · thalidomide · English

thalidomide · rank #59,759 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #59,759
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,151
  • PHOTO-FINISH Thacker

Nearest frequency peer: Thacker (-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 “thalidomide”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for thalidomide
PropertyValue
Headwordthalidomide
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/θəˈlɪdəˌmaɪd/
Letters11
Frequency rank#59,759
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “thalidomide” in English

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).thalidomidefalls 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: “Thacker” (#59,758), “Thurgood” (#59,761), “Tenzin” (#59,756). Among 3,151 “T” headwords, “thalidomide” is #59,759. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

thalidomide is uncommon English at frequency #59,759 among 3,151 “T” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /θəˈlɪdəˌmaɪd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A drug sold during the late 1950s and early 1960s as a sleeping aid, and to pregnant women as an antiemetic to combat morning sickness and other symptoms, but withdrawn as causing severe birth defe...".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for thalidomide, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From (ph)thal(ic acid) + (im)ido + (i)mide. The correct English form is thalidomide, spelled T-H-A-L-I-D-O-M-I-D-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A drug sold during the late 1950s and early 1960s as a sleeping aid, and to pregnant women as an antiemetic to combat morning sickness and other symptoms, but withdrawn as causing severe birth defects, such as phocomelia; currently used to treat leprosy.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. I have tried all the medium and short acting non-barbiturate sedatives since the war (including thalidomide) but they don’t work and I don’t trust the newfangled long acting, “safe” analgesics.
  2. I can't stand to see your thalidomide robot face

Etymology

From (ph)thal(ic acid) + (im)ido + (i)mide.

Synonyms

--(2,6-dioxopiperidin-3-yl)-1H-isoindole-13(2H)dione — C13H10N2O4

This word in other languages

thalidomide(Français)Contergan(Deutsch)

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 "thalidomide"?
"thalidomide" is spelled T-H-A-L-I-D-O-M-I-D-E. The IPA pronunciation is /θəˈlɪdəˌmaɪd/.
What does "thalidomide" mean?
As a noun, "thalidomide" means: A drug sold during the late 1950s and early 1960s as a sleeping aid, and to pregnant women as an antiemetic to combat morning sickness and other symptoms, but withdrawn as causing severe birth defe...
How do you pronounce "thalidomide"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "thalidomide" is /θəˈlɪdəˌmaɪd/. 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 "thalidomide"?
From (ph)thal(ic acid) + (im)ido + (i)mide. 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 "thalidomide", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Trinitarian#59,775superheated#59,739secondarily#59,697Adirondacks#59,845

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list