thought experiment

noun

"thought-experiment" is a 17-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“thought experiment” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
18
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An attempt to solve a problem using the power of human imagination.

Corpus desk

Index EN-thought-experiment · thought experiment · English

thought experiment · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-MEGA 18 letters
  • VOW-6 6 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "T" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for thought experiment
PropertyValue
Headwordthought experiment
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters18
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “thought experiment” in English

thought experimentfalls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

thought experiment is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "An attempt to solve a problem using the power of human imagination.".

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for thought experiment, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.

Etymologically, the entry records: A calque of German Gedankenexperiment. The correct English form is thought experiment, spelled T-H-O-U-G-H-T- -E-X-P-E-R-I-M-E-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    An attempt to solve a problem using the power of human imagination.

Etymology

A calque of German Gedankenexperiment.

This word in other languages

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "thought experiment"?
"thought experiment" is spelled T-H-O-U-G-H-T- -E-X-P-E-R-I-M-E-N-T.
What does "thought experiment" mean?
As a noun, "thought experiment" means: An attempt to solve a problem using the power of human imagination.
What is the origin of the word "thought experiment"?
A calque of German Gedankenexperiment. 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list