absorb
/əbˈzɔːb/
"absorb" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“absorb” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #9,428 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #9,428
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To include so that it no longer has separate existence; to overwhelm; to cause to disappear as if by swallowing up; to incorporate; to assimilate; to take in and use up.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | absorb |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /əbˈzɔːb/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #9,428 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “absorb” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for absorb is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əbˈzɔːb/. Corpus data places it at rank #9,428 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 14 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for absorb, with forms such as "abbsorb", "abosrb", and "absobr". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "absurd", "absorbed", "absorber", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French absorber, from Old French assorbir, from Latin absorbeō (“swallow up”), from ab- (“from”) + sorbeō (“suck in, swallow”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *srebʰ- (“to sip”). Compare French absorber. The correct English form is absorb, spelled A-B-S-O-R-B.
Definition
- 1To include so that it no longer has separate existence; to overwhelm; to cause to disappear as if by swallowing up; to incorporate; to assimilate; to take in and use up.
- 2To engulf, as in water; to swallow up.
- 3To suck up; to drink in; to imbibe, like a sponge or as the lacteals of the body; to chemically take in.
- 4To be absorbed, or sucked in; to sink in.
- 5To take in energy and convert it.
- 6To take in energy and convert it.
- 7To take in energy and convert it.
- 8To take in energy and convert it.
- 9To engross or engage wholly; to occupy fully.
- 10To occupy or consume time.
- 11To assimilate mentally.
- 12To assume or pay for as part of a commercial transaction.
- 13To defray the costs.
- 14To accept or purchase in quantity.
Etymology
From Middle French absorber, from Old French assorbir, from Latin absorbeō (“swallow up”), from ab- (“from”) + sorbeō (“suck in, swallow”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *srebʰ- (“to sip”). Compare French absorber.
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: abbsorb,abosrb,absobr,absorbb,absorrb,absrob,abssorb,asborb,basorb
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of absorb - 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.
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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Using “absorb”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-B-S-O-R-B - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əbˈzɔːb/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “absurd” - see the side-by-side comparison. absorb vs absurd
- 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.