afire
/əˈfaɪɚ/
"afire" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“afire” is an uncommon English word, ranked #55,220 in English word frequency and used as an adverb.
- #55,220
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - On fire (often metaphorically).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | afire |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /əˈfaɪɚ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #55,220 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “afire” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for afire is 5 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈfaɪɚ/. Corpus data places it at rank #55,220 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "On fire (often metaphorically).".
afire has no tracked misspelling variants, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. No confusable counterpart is on file for this word, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.
Etymologically, the entry records: 13ᵗʰc., from Middle English afire, equivalent to a- (“on”) + fire. Figurative usage from late 14ᵗʰc. The correct English form is afire, spelled A-F-I-R-E.
Definition
- 1On fire (often metaphorically).
Etymology
13ᵗʰc., from Middle English afire, equivalent to a- (“on”) + fire. Figurative usage from late 14ᵗʰc.
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 “afire”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-F-I-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əˈfaɪɚ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.