accurate
/ˈak.jʊ.ɹɪt/
"accurate" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“accurate” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,606 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #2,606
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Telling the truth or giving a true result; exact; not defective or faulty.
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 | accurate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈak.jʊ.ɹɪt/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #2,606 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “accurate” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for accurate is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈak.jʊ.ɹɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,606 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 5 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 accurate, with forms such as "accruate", "accuarte", and "accuraet". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "accurately", "accuracy", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: First attested in the 1610's with the now obsolete sense "done with care", and from the 1650's with the sense "precise, exact". Borrowed from Latin accūrātus (“done with care”), perfect passive participle of accūrō (“take care of”) (see -ate (verb-forming s… The correct English form is accurate, spelled A-C-C-U-R-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1Telling the truth or giving a true result; exact; not defective or faulty.
- 2Deviating only slightly or within acceptable limits.
- 3On course to hit, or successful in hitting, a target; well-aimed.
- 4Capable of consistently hitting a target, especially using some weapon or tool.
- 5Precisely fixed; executed with care; careful.
Etymology
First attested in the 1610's with the now obsolete sense "done with care", and from the 1650's with the sense "precise, exact". Borrowed from Latin accūrātus (“done with care”), perfect passive participle of accūrō (“take care of”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + cūrō (“take care”), from cūra (“care”) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix). Compare English cure.
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: accruate,accuarte,accuraet,accuratte,accurrate,accurtae,acucrate,acurate,cacurate
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of accurate - 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 “accurate”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-C-C-U-R-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈak.jʊ.ɹɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “accurately” - see the side-by-side comparison. accurate vs accurately
- 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.