afterglow
"afterglow" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“afterglow” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #44,600 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #44,600
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 14
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The glow seen in the sky after sunset.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | afterglow |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #44,600 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “afterglow” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for afterglow is 9 letters long, classified as a noun. Corpus data places it at rank #44,600 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 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for afterglow, with forms such as "afetrglow", "affterglow", and "aftegrlow". 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. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From after- + glow. The correct English form is afterglow, spelled A-F-T-E-R-G-L-O-W.
Definition
- 1The glow seen in the sky after sunset.
- 2The light emitted by an incandescent object while cooling.
- 3The light emitted by a phosphor after excitation.
- 4The mildly euphoric feeling experienced after a pleasurable experience, especially after an orgasm or drug-induced high.
- 5An afterparty.
Etymology
From after- + glow.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: afetrglow,affterglow,aftegrlow,aftergglow,aftergllow,aftergloww,afterglwo,aftergolw,afterlgow,afterrglow,aftreglow,aftterglow,atferglow,faterglow
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of afterglow - 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
How do you spell "afterglow"?
What does "afterglow" mean?
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Using “afterglow”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-F-T-E-R-G-L-O-W - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- 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.