affirm
/əˈfɝm/
"affirm" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“affirm” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #22,277 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #22,277
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To agree, verify or concur; to answer positively.
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 | affirm |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /əˈfɝm/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #22,277 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “affirm” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for affirm is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈfɝm/. Corpus data places it at rank #22,277 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for affirm, with forms such as "affimr", "affirmm", and "affirrm". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "affix", "afford", "affair", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English affermen, from Old French afermer, affermer, from Latin affirmare, adfirmare (“to present as fixed, aver, affirm”), from ad (“to”) + firmare (“to make firm”), from firmus (“firm”). The correct English form is affirm, spelled A-F-F-I-R-M.
Definition
- 1To agree, verify or concur; to answer positively.
- 2To assert positively; to tell with confidence; to aver; to maintain as true.
- 3To support or encourage.
- 4To make firm; to confirm, or ratify; especially (law) to assert or confirm, as a judgment, decree, or order, brought before an appellate court for review.
- 5To state under a solemn promise to tell the truth which is considered legally equivalent to an oath, especially of those who have religious or other moral objections to swearing oaths; also solemnly affirm.
Etymology
From Middle English affermen, from Old French afermer, affermer, from Latin affirmare, adfirmare (“to present as fixed, aver, affirm”), from ad (“to”) + firmare (“to make firm”), from firmus (“firm”).
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: affimr,affirmm,affirrm,affrim,afifrm,afirm,fafirm
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of affirm - 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “affirm”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-F-F-I-R-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əˈfɝm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “affix” - see the side-by-side comparison. affirm vs affix
- 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.