afraid
/əˈfɹeɪd/
"afraid" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“afraid” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,027 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #2,027
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear.
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 | afraid |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /əˈfɹeɪd/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #2,027 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “afraid” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for afraid is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈfɹeɪd/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,027 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for afraid, with forms such as "afarid", "affraid", and "afradi". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "arid", "Afridi", "affair", 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 affrayed, affraied, past participle of afraien (“to affray”), from Anglo-Norman afrayer (“to terrify, disquiet, disturb”), from Old French effreer, esfreer (“to disturb, remove the peace from”), from es- (“out”) + freer (“to secure, secu… The correct English form is afraid, spelled A-F-R-A-I-D.
Definition
- 1Impressed with fear or apprehension; in fear.
- 2Regretful, sorry; expressing a reluctance to face an unpleasant situation.
- 3Worried about, feeling concern for, fearing for (someone or something).
Etymology
From Middle English affrayed, affraied, past participle of afraien (“to affray”), from Anglo-Norman afrayer (“to terrify, disquiet, disturb”), from Old French effreer, esfreer (“to disturb, remove the peace from”), from es- (“out”) + freer (“to secure, secure the peace”), from Frankish *friþu (“security, peace”), from Proto-Germanic *friþuz (“peace”), from Proto-Germanic *frijōną (“to free; to love”), from Proto-Indo-European *prāy-, *prēy- (“to like, love”). By surface analysis, affray + -ed. Compare also afeard. More at free, friend.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: afarid,affraid,afradi,afraidd,afriad,afrraid,arfaid,faraid
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of afraid - 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 "afraid"?
What does "afraid" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "afraid"?
How do you pronounce "afraid"?
What is the origin of the word "afraid"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “afraid”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-F-R-A-I-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əˈfɹeɪd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “arid” - see the side-by-side comparison. afraid vs arid
- 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.