witch doctor

/ˈwɪtʃ ˌdɒktə/

//ˈwɪtʃ ˌdɒktə// noun

"witch-doctor" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“witch doctor” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
12
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person (often male) who is believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magical powers; a shaman.

Key facts for witch doctor
PropertyValue
Headwordwitch doctor
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈwɪtʃ ˌdɒktə/
Letters12
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “witch doctor” sits in English frequency

witch doctor falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

witch doctor is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈwɪtʃ ˌdɒktə/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

witch doctor doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is witch doctor, spelled W-I-T-C-H- -D-O-C-T-O-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A person (often male) who is believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magical powers; a shaman.
  2. 2
    A dragonfly.

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "witch doctor"?
"witch doctor" is spelled W-I-T-C-H- -D-O-C-T-O-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈwɪtʃ ˌdɒktə/.
What does "witch doctor" mean?
As a noun, "witch doctor" means: A person (often male) who is believed to ward off witchcraft and heal through magical powers; a shaman.
How do you pronounce "witch doctor"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "witch doctor" is /ˈwɪtʃ ˌdɒktə/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "witch doctor" come from?
"witch doctor" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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.

Using “witch doctor”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is W-I-T-C-H- -D-O-C-T-O-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ˈwɪtʃ ˌdɒktə/ (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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list