wacko
/ˈwæ.kəʊ/
"wacko" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“wacko” is an uncommon English word, ranked #61,206 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #61,206
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Amusingly eccentric or irrational.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | wacko |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈwæ.kəʊ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #61,206 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “wacko” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for wacko is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈwæ.kəʊ/. Corpus data places it at rank #61,206 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Amusingly eccentric or irrational.".
No generated misspelling entries exist for wacko in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From wack(y) + -o. The correct English form is wacko, spelled W-A-C-K-O.
Definition
- 1Amusingly eccentric or irrational.
Etymology
From wack(y) + -o.
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); 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 "wacko"?
What does "wacko" mean?
How do you pronounce "wacko"?
What is the origin of the word "wacko"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “wacko”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-A-C-K-O - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈwæ.kəʊ/ (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
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.