worm-eaten
"worm-eaten" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“worm-eaten” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of fruit or other food, eaten by worms, especially having a worm inside.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | worm-eaten |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “worm-eaten” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
worm-eaten is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for worm-eaten in our index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is worm-eaten, spelled W-O-R-M---E-A-T-E-N.
Definition
- 1Of fruit or other food, eaten by worms, especially having a worm inside.
- 2Rotten or decrepit.
Synonyms
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
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Using “worm-eaten”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-O-R-M---E-A-T-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- 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.