affable
/ˈæf.ə.bəl/
"affable" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“affable” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #43,495 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #43,495
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Receiving others kindly and conversing with them in a free and friendly manner; friendly, courteous, sociable.
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 | affable |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈæf.ə.bəl/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #43,495 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “affable” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for affable is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈæf.ə.bəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #43,495 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 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 affable, with forms such as "afable", "afafble", and "affabble". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "arable", "amiable", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French affable, from Latin affābilis, from affor (“to address”), from ad + for (“to speak, to talk”). See fable. The correct English form is affable, spelled A-F-F-A-B-L-E.
Definition
- 1Receiving others kindly and conversing with them in a free and friendly manner; friendly, courteous, sociable.
- 2Mild; benign.
Etymology
Borrowed from French affable, from Latin affābilis, from affor (“to address”), from ad + for (“to speak, to talk”). See fable.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: afable,afafble,affabble,affabel,affablle,affalbe,affbale,affible,fafable
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of affable - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "affable"?
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Using “affable”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-F-F-A-B-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈæf.ə.bəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “arable” - see the side-by-side comparison. affable vs arable
- 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.