tribadism
/ˈtɹɪbədɪz(ə)m/
"tribadism" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“tribadism” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Lesbianism.
Corpus desk
Index EN-tribadism · tribadism · English
tribadism · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-LONG 9 letters
- VOW-3 3 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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | tribadism |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈtɹɪbədɪz(ə)m/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “tribadism” in English
Rare enough to double-check
tribadism is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈtɹɪbədɪz(ə)m/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for tribadism in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From tribade + -ism. The correct English form is tribadism, spelled T-R-I-B-A-D-I-S-M.
Definition
- 1Lesbianism.
- 2A sexual act in which two women rub their vulvas together.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how tribadism appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Things changed when Théophile Gautier made tribadism a fashionable feature of French decadence, and Baudelaire reminded the world that it all started on Lesbos.
The Lesbian is the analogue among women of Persian love among men, and this perversion takes place in two ways, either by friction of the two female bodies, known as tribadism, or by the tongue, designated as cunnilinguism.
Etymology
From tribade + -ism.
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.