zit
/ˈzɪt/
"zit" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“zit” is uncommon English (frequency #59,829 among 265 “Z” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #59,829
- frequency rank, English
- 265
- “Z” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Pimple
Corpus desk
Index EN-zit · zit · English
zit · rank #59,829 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #59,829
- LEN-MID 3 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 265
- PHOTO-FINISH zinger
Nearest frequency peer: zinger (-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.
Long-tail ranks near “zit”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- zam
zam
40,178 corpus weight
- Zavala
Zavala
40,177 corpus weight
- zealously
zealously
40,176 corpus weight
- Zell
Zell
40,175 corpus weight
- zinger
zinger
40,173 corpus weight
- zit
zit
40,172 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “zit” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | zit |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈzɪt/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #59,829 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “zit” in English
Rare enough to double-check
zit is uncommon English at frequency #59,829 among 265 “Z” headwords, classed as anoun, transcribed /ˈzɪt/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Pimple".
Zero misspellings are on record for zit in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: Uncertain origin, first attested as 1960s North American English teenagers' slang. Compare English chit (“pimple, wart”), German Zitze (“teat, nipple”). The correct English form is zit, spelled Z-I-T.
Definition
- 1Pimple
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how zit appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
I can't help thinking how little good all that working out did him. I think the only thing he ever got out of it was more zits.
Brad: Sara, did you take my Clearasil again? Sara: I ran out of brown (paint). Brad: Great. How am I supposed to cover up my zits?
Etymology
Uncertain origin, first attested as 1960s North American English teenagers' slang. Compare English chit (“pimple, wart”), German Zitze (“teat, nipple”).
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); 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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "zit", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).