xenophobia

/ˌzɛn.əˈfəʊ.bɪ.ə/

//ˌzɛn.əˈfəʊ.bɪ.ə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"xenophobia" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“xenophobia” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #27,034. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#27,034
frequency rank, English
54
“X” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A fear, antipathy, or hatred of strangers or foreigners.

Corpus desk

Index EN-xenophobia · xenophobia · English

xenophobia · rank #27,034 · 14 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #27,034
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-MID 54
  • PHOTO-FINISH xenophobic

Nearest frequency peer: xenophobic (+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 “xenophobia”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “xenophobia” 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).

xenophobia vs xenophobic
90% similar

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

Key facts for xenophobia
PropertyValue
Headwordxenophobia
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˌzɛn.əˈfəʊ.bɪ.ə/
Letters10
Frequency rank#27,034
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “xenophobia”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).xenophobialands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “xenophobic” (#27,035), “worsen” (#27,032), “yakuza” (#27,036). Among 54 “X” headwords, “xenophobia” is #27,034. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around xenophobia (IPA /ˌzɛn.əˈfəʊ.bɪ.ə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #27,034 among 54 “X” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for xenophobia, with forms such as "exnophobia", "xennophobia", and "xenohpobia". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "xenophobic", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From xeno- + -phobia. The correct English form is xenophobia, spelled X-E-N-O-P-H-O-B-I-A.

Definition

  1. 1
    A fear, antipathy, or hatred of strangers or foreigners.
  2. 2
    A fear of aliens.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The great sociologist Zygmunt Bauman argued that philo-Semitism and anti-Semitism both fall under “allosemitism”: literally Othering the Jew. He defined it not as resentment of what is different, which is xenophobia, but rather of what defies order and clear categories. In 1997, he wrote, “The Jew is ambivalence incarnate. And ambivalence is ambivalence m…
  2. The United States is not the only country where xenophobia pays dividends for politicians.

Etymology

From xeno- + -phobia.

Synonyms

xenophoby

Antonyms

xenomaniaxenophiliaxenophilyallophilia

This word in other languages

xenofobia(Español)xénophobie(Français)Fremdenfeindlichkeit(Deutsch)xenofobia(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • exnophobia
  • xennophobia
  • xenohpobia
  • xenophboia
  • xenophhobia
  • xenophobai
  • xenophobbia
  • xenophoiba
  • xenopohbia
  • xenopphobia
  • xenpohobia
  • xeonphobia
  • xneophobia
  • xxenophobia

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of xenophobia - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

exnophobia2xennophobia1xenohpobia2xenophboia2xenophhobia1xenophobai2xenophobbia1xenophoiba2
Edit distance from "xenophobia"

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 "xenophobia"?
"xenophobia" is spelled X-E-N-O-P-H-O-B-I-A. The IPA pronunciation is /ˌzɛn.əˈfəʊ.bɪ.ə/.
What does "xenophobia" mean?
As a noun, "xenophobia" means: A fear, antipathy, or hatred of strangers or foreigners.
What words are commonly confused with "xenophobia"?
"xenophobia" is commonly confused with "xenophobic". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "xenophobia"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "xenophobia" is /ˌzɛn.əˈfəʊ.bɪ.ə/. 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 "xenophobia"?
From xeno- + -phobia. 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 "xenophobia", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

xenophobic#27,035antichrist#27,048assimilate#27,057tumultuous#27,010

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

Breitbart14 variantssurgically14 variantsClarendon14 variantsstimulant14 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list