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 27,828 “T” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#59,759
frequency rank, English
27,828
“T” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 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1960s as a sleeping aid, and to pregnant women as an antiemetic to combat morning sickness and other symptoms, but withdrawn as causing severe birth defe...

Key facts for thalidomide
PropertyValue
Headwordthalidomide
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/θəˈlɪdəˌmaɪd/
Letters11
Frequency rank#59,759
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “thalidomide” sits in English frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

thalidomide is uncommon English at frequency #59,759 among 27,828 “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1960s as a sleeping aid, and to pregnant women as an antiemetic to combat morning sickness and other symptoms, but withdrawn as causing severe birth defe...".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1960s as a sleeping aid, and to pregnant women as an antiemetic to combat morning sickness and other symptoms, but withdrawn as causing severe birth defects, such as phocomelia; currently used to treat leprosy.

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.

Using “thalidomide”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is T-H-A-L-I-D-O-M-I-D-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /θəˈlɪdəˌmaɪd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words

Other uncommon English words near this rank

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list