ulterior
/ʌlˈtɪə.ɹɪə/
"ulterior" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ulterior” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #33,467. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #33,467
- frequency rank, English
- 23,789
- “U” headwords
- 11
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Situated beyond, or on the farther side.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | ulterior |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ʌlˈtɪə.ɹɪə/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #33,467 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ulterior” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 11 spelling variants around ulterior (IPA /ʌlˈtɪə.ɹɪə/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #33,467 among 23,789 “U” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for ulterior, with forms such as "luterior", "uletrior", and "ullterior". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin ulterior (“further, more distant”), from ulter (“that is beyond”) + -ior (“more”). The correct English form is ulterior, spelled U-L-T-E-R-I-O-R.
Definition
- 1Situated beyond, or on the farther side.
- 2Beyond what is obvious or evident.
- 3Being intentionally concealed so as to deceive.
- 4Happening later; subsequent.
Etymology
From Latin ulterior (“further, more distant”), from ulter (“that is beyond”) + -ior (“more”).
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- luterior
- uletrior
- ullterior
- ulteiror
- ulteriorr
- ulteriro
- ulteroir
- ulterrior
- ultreior
- ultterior
- utlerior
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ulterior - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 "ulterior"?
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Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “ulterior”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is U-L-T-E-R-I-O-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ʌlˈtɪə.ɹɪə/ (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
Same frequency band
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.