venom

/ˈvɛnəm/

//ˈvɛnəm// noun

"venom" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“venom” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #13,635. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#13,635
frequency rank, English
969
“V” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
12
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An animal toxin intended for defensive or offensive use; a biological poison delivered by bite, sting, etc., to protect an animal or to kill its prey.

Corpus desk

Index EN-venom · venom · English

venom · rank #13,635 · 7 variants · 12 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #13,635
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 12 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 969
  • PHOTO-FINISH victorious

Nearest frequency peer: victorious (+1 rank slots)

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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “venom”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “venom” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

venom vs vom
60% similar
venom vs vent
60% similar
venom vs veto
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for venom
PropertyValue
Headwordvenom
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈvɛnəm/
Letters5
Frequency rank#13,635
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs12
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “venom”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).venomlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “victorious” (#13,636), “upsetting” (#13,633), “vines” (#13,637). Among 969 “V” headwords, “venom” is #13,635. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around venom (IPA /ˈvɛnəm/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #13,635 among 969 “V” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for venom, with forms such as "evnom", "venmo", and "vennom". 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. It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "vom", "vent", "veto", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English venym, from Old French venim, from Vulgar Latin *venīmen, from Early Medieval Latin venīnum, from Classical Latin venēnum (“drug; poison; a charm”), ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to love”). Doublet of venin and ve… The correct English form is venom, spelled V-E-N-O-M.

Definition

  1. 1
    An animal toxin intended for defensive or offensive use; a biological poison delivered by bite, sting, etc., to protect an animal or to kill its prey.
  2. 2
    Feeling or speech marked by spite or malice; vitriol.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how venom appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. […] There may be in the cup / A spider steep’d, and one may drink, depart, / And yet partake no venom, for his knowledge / Is not infected...
  2. And from the Boughs brush off the evil dew, / And heal the harms of thwarting thunder blew, / Or what the cross dire-looking Planet smites, / Or hurtfull Worm with canker’d venom bites […]

Etymology

From Middle English venym, from Old French venim, from Vulgar Latin *venīmen, from Early Medieval Latin venīnum, from Classical Latin venēnum (“drug; poison; a charm”), ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to love”). Doublet of venin and venene.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • evnom
  • venmo
  • vennom
  • venomm
  • veonm
  • vneom
  • vvenom

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of venom - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

evnom2venmo2vennom1venomm1veonm2vneom2vvenom1
Edit distance from "venom"

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 "venom"?
"venom" is spelled V-E-N-O-M. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈvɛnəm/.
What does "venom" mean?
As a noun, "venom" means: An animal toxin intended for defensive or offensive use; a biological poison delivered by bite, sting, etc., to protect an animal or to kill its prey.
What words are commonly confused with "venom"?
"venom" is commonly confused with "vom", "vent", "veto". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "venom"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "venom" is /ˈvɛnəm/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "venom"?
From Middle English venym, from Old French venim, from Vulgar Latin *venīmen, from Early Medieval Latin venīnum, from Classical Latin venēnum (“drug; poison; a charm”), ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to love”). Doublet of ve... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "venom", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list