vacuum
/ˈvæ.kjuːm/
"vacuum" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“vacuum” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,197 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #6,197
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A region of space that contains no matter.
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 | vacuum |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈvæ.kjuːm/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #6,197 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “vacuum” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for vacuum is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈvæ.kjuːm/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,197 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for vacuum, with forms such as "avcuum", "vaccuum", and "vacum". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "Valium", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from New Latin vacuum (“vacuum”), a subsense of Classical Latin vacuum (“empty space”), a substantivised form of vacuus (“empty”); related to vacāre (“to be empty”). The exercise sense comes from analogy to the sucking action of a vacuum cleaner. The correct English form is vacuum, spelled V-A-C-U-U-M.
Definition
- 1A region of space that contains no matter.
- 2The condition of rarefaction, or reduction of pressure below that of the atmosphere, in a vessel, such as the condenser of a steam engine, which is nearly exhausted of air or steam, etc.
- 3Ellipsis of vacuum cleaner.
- 4A spacetime having tensors of zero magnitude.
- 5A ground state of a quantum field or of local spacetime, or more abstractly the lowest-energy state of a system.
- 6A ground state of a quantum field or of local spacetime, or more abstractly the lowest-energy state of a system.
- 7An emptiness in life created by a loss of a person who was close, or of an occupation.
- 8An exercise in which one draws their abdomen towards the spine.
Etymology
Borrowed from New Latin vacuum (“vacuum”), a subsense of Classical Latin vacuum (“empty space”), a substantivised form of vacuus (“empty”); related to vacāre (“to be empty”). The exercise sense comes from analogy to the sucking action of a vacuum cleaner.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: avcuum,vaccuum,vacum,vacumu,vacuumm,vaucum,vcauum,vvacuum
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of vacuum - 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
How do you spell "vacuum"?
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Using “vacuum”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is V-A-C-U-U-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈvæ.kjuːm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Valium” - see the side-by-side comparison. vacuum vs Valium
- 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.