toxic
/ˈtɒk.sɪk/
"toxic" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“toxic” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #4,807 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #4,807
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 15
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Having a chemical nature that is harmful to health or lethal if consumed or otherwise entering into the body in sufficient quantities.
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 | toxic |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈtɒk.sɪk/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #4,807 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 15 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “toxic” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for toxic is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈtɒk.sɪk/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,807 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for toxic, with forms such as "otxic", "toixc", and "toxci". 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 15 confusable-pair relationships, "toxin", "tunic", "tropic", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French toxique, from Late Latin toxicus (“poisoned”), from Latin toxicum (“poison”), from Ancient Greek τοξικόν (toxikón) [φάρμακον (phármakon)] ("poison for use on arrows"), from τοξικός (toxikós, “pertaining to arrows or archery”), from τόξο… The correct English form is toxic, spelled T-O-X-I-C.
Definition
- 1Having a chemical nature that is harmful to health or lethal if consumed or otherwise entering into the body in sufficient quantities.
- 2Appearing grossly unwell; characterised by serious, potentially life-threatening compromise in the respiratory, circulatory or other body systems.
- 3Severely negative or harmful.
- 4Of a person, hateful or strongly antipathetic.
Etymology
Borrowed from French toxique, from Late Latin toxicus (“poisoned”), from Latin toxicum (“poison”), from Ancient Greek τοξικόν (toxikón) [φάρμακον (phármakon)] ("poison for use on arrows"), from τοξικός (toxikós, “pertaining to arrows or archery”), from τόξον (tóxon, “bow”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: otxic,toixc,toxci,toxicc,toxxic,ttoxic,txoic
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of toxic - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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
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Using “toxic”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-O-X-I-C - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈtɒk.sɪk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “toxin” - see the side-by-side comparison. toxic vs toxin
- 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.