affirm
/əˈfɝm/
"affirm" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“affirm” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #22,277. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #22,277
- frequency rank, English
- 3,931
- “A” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To agree, verify or concur; to answer positively.
Corpus desk
Index EN-affirm · affirm · English
affirm · rank #22,277 · 7 variants · 4 confusables
- FREQ-MID #22,277
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,931
- PHOTO-FINISH ado
Nearest frequency peer: ado (-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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “affirm”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- acidity
acidity
77,727 corpus weight
- ado
ado
77,725 corpus weight
- affirm
affirm
77,724 corpus weight
- agrarian
agrarian
77,723 corpus weight
- airy
airy
77,722 corpus weight
- Akira
Akira
77,721 corpus weight
What this shows “affirm” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “affirm”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around affirm (IPA /əˈfɝm/), averb. Corpus frequency is #22,277 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
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.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how affirm appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
She affirmed that she would go when I asked her.
Jesus, […] whom Paul affirmed to be alive
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "affirm", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).