afford
/əˈfoɹd/
"afford" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“afford” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,609 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #2,609
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 6
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To incur, stand, or bear without serious detriment, as an act which might under other circumstances be injurious; (usually after an expression of ability, as could, able, difficult) to be able or r...
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 | afford |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /əˈfoɹd/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #2,609 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 6 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “afford” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for afford is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈfoɹd/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,609 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 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 afford, with forms such as "affodr", "affordd", and "afforrd". 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 6 confusable-pair relationships, "Alford", "affords", "Ashford", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English afforthen, aforthen, avorthien, from earlier iforthen, iforthien, ȝeforthien, from Old English forþian, ġeforþian (“to further, accomplish, afford”), from Proto-Germanic *furþōną, from Proto-Germanic *furþą (“forth, forward”), equivalent… The correct English form is afford, spelled A-F-F-O-R-D.
Definition
- 1To incur, stand, or bear without serious detriment, as an act which might under other circumstances be injurious; (usually after an expression of ability, as could, able, difficult) to be able or rich enough; to spare.
- 2To offer, provide, or supply, as in selling, granting or expending, with profit, or without too great a loss.
- 3To give forth; to supply, yield, or produce as the natural result, fruit, or issue.
- 4To give, grant, or confer, with a remoter reference to its being the natural result; to provide; to furnish.
Etymology
From Middle English afforthen, aforthen, avorthien, from earlier iforthen, iforthien, ȝeforthien, from Old English forþian, ġeforþian (“to further, accomplish, afford”), from Proto-Germanic *furþōną, from Proto-Germanic *furþą (“forth, forward”), equivalent to a- + forth. Cognate with Old Norse forða (“to forward oneself, save oneself, escape danger”), Icelandic forða (“to save, rescue”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: affodr,affordd,afforrd,affrod,afofrd,aford,faford
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of afford - 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
How do you spell "afford"?
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Using “afford”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-F-F-O-R-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əˈfoɹd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Alford” - see the side-by-side comparison. afford vs Alford
- 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.