acquire
/əˈkwaɪɚ/
"acquire" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“acquire” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,752. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #5,752
- frequency rank, English
- 35,202
- “A” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To get.
Corpus desk
Index EN-acquire · acquire · English
acquire · rank #5,752 · 9 variants · 2 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #5,752
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
- VAR-MID 9 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 35,202
- PHOTO-FINISH accordance
Nearest frequency peer: accordance (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “acquire”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- wrestling
wrestling
94,252 corpus weight
- zoo
zoo
94,251 corpus weight
- accordance
accordance
94,250 corpus weight
- acquire
acquire
94,249 corpus weight
- activist
activist
94,248 corpus weight
- addresses
addresses
94,246 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “acquire” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | acquire |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /əˈkwaɪɚ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #5,752 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “acquire” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around acquire (IPA /əˈkwaɪɚ/), averb. Corpus frequency is #5,752 among 35,202 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for acquire, with forms such as "accquire", "acqiure", and "acqquire". 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, "acquit", "acquired", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English acqueren, from Old French aquerre, from Latin acquirō; ad- + quaerō (“to seek for”). See quest. The correct English form is acquire, spelled A-C-Q-U-I-R-E.
Definition
- 1To get.
- 2To gain, usually by one's own exertions; to get as one's own.
- 3To become affected by an illness.
- 4To sample signals and convert them into digital values.
- 5To begin tracking a mobile target with a particular detector or sight, generally with the implication that an attack on the target thereby becomes possible.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how acquire appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
to acquire a skill
to acquire decent habits and manners
Etymology
From Middle English acqueren, from Old French aquerre, from Latin acquirō; ad- + quaerō (“to seek for”). See quest.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- accquire
- acqiure
- acqquire
- acquier
- acquirre
- acqurie
- acuqire
- aqcuire
- caquire
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of acquire - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "acquire"?
What does "acquire" mean?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "acquire", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).
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.