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wickedness

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

10 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

Wiktionary

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "wickedness", 10-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "wickedness" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "wickedness" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

wickedness is aEnglishnoun. It means: The state of being wicked; evil disposition; immorality. Pronounced /ˈwɪkɪdnəs/.

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Key facts for wickedness
PropertyValue
Headwordwickedness
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈwɪkɪdnəs/
Letters10
Frequency rank#31,832
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of wickedness in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for wickedness is 10 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈwɪkɪdnəs/. Corpus data places it at rank #31,832 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it.Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 14 documented wrong-spelling variants for wickedness, with forms such as "iwckedness", "wcikedness", and "wicckedness". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English wikkednesse, wikkednes, equivalent to wicked + -ness. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is wickedness, spelled W-I-C-K-E-D-N-E-S-S, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    The state of being wicked; evil disposition; immorality.
  2. 2
    A wicked or sinful thing or act; morally bad or objectionable behaviour.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English wikkednesse, wikkednes, equivalent to wicked + -ness.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: iwckedness,wcikedness,wicckedness,wicekdness,wickdeness,wickeddness,wickedenss,wickednes,wickednness,wickednses,wickendess,wickkedness,wikcedness,wwickedness

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for wickedness

Misspelling Variants of "wickedness"

iwckedness10wcikedness10wicckedness11wicekdness10wickdeness10wickeddness11wickedenss10wickednes9
Misspelling Variants of "wickedness"

Frequency rank: #31,832 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "wickedness"?
"wickedness" is spelled W-I-C-K-E-D-N-E-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈwɪkɪdnəs/.
What does "wickedness" mean?
As a noun, "wickedness" means: The state of being wicked; evil disposition; immorality.
What are common misspellings of "wickedness"?
Common misspellings include "iwckedness", "wcikedness", "wicckedness", "wicekdness", "wickdeness". The correct spelling is "wickedness".
How do you pronounce "wickedness"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "wickedness" is /ˈwɪkɪdnəs/. 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 "wickedness"?
Inherited from Middle English wikkednesse, wikkednes, equivalent to wicked + -ness. 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter W in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.