agent

/ˈeɪ.d͡ʒənt/

//ˈeɪ.d͡ʒənt// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"agent" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“agent” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,622. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,622
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - One who exerts power, or has the power to act.

Corpus desk

Index EN-agent · agent · English

agent · rank #1,622 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,622
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH village

Nearest frequency peer: village (-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 “agent”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “agent” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

agent vs ant
60% similar
agent vs ages
60% similar
agent vs aunt
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for agent
PropertyValue
Headwordagent
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈeɪ.d͡ʒənt/
Letters5
Frequency rank#1,622
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “agent”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).agentlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “village” (#1,621), “animal” (#1,623), “understanding” (#1,620). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “agent” is #1,622. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around agent (IPA /ˈeɪ.d͡ʒənt/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,622 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for agent, with forms such as "aegnt", "agennt", and "agentt". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ant", "ages", "aunt", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti Proto-Italic *agō Latin agō Latin agēnsder. English agent From Latin agēns, present active participle of agere (“to drive, lead, conduct, manage, perform, do”). The correct English form is agent, spelled A-G-E-N-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    One who exerts power, or has the power to act.
  2. 2
    One who acts for, or in the place of, another (the principal), by that person's authority; someone entrusted to act on behalf of or in behalf of another, such as to transact business for them.
  3. 3
    A person who looks for work for another person and brokers a deal between the hiree and hirer.
  4. 4
    Someone who works for an intelligence agency: whether an officer or employee thereof or anyone else who agrees to help their efforts (for ideology, for money, as blackmailee, or otherwise).
  5. 5
    An active power or cause or substance; something (e.g. biological, chemical, thermal, etc.) that has the power to produce an effect.
  6. 6
    In the client-server model, the part of the system that performs information preparation and exchange on behalf of a client or server. Especially in the phrase “intelligent agent” it implies some kind of autonomous process which can communicate with other agents to perform some collective task on behalf of one or more humans.
  7. 7
    The participant of a situation that carries out the action in this situation, e.g. "the boy" in the sentences "The boy kicked the ball" and "The ball was kicked by the boy".
  8. 8
    A cheat who is assisted by dishonest casino staff.
  9. 9
    A law enforcement officer tasked with enforcing a specific field of law.
  10. 10
    A respectful term of address for an agent, especially a law enforcement agent.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how agent appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Seeing we are so wonderfully endowed with priceless gifts by our Heavenly Father, will he not require usury at our hands? He will. But he has made us agents to ourselves, which makes us responsible for the way in which we use the talents he has given us, for the manner we expend the gold and silver, the wheat and fine flour, the cattle upon a thousand hil…
  2. He worked as an agent for the government.

Etymology

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti Proto-Italic *agō Latin agō Latin agēnsder. English agent From Latin agēns, present active participle of agere (“to drive, lead, conduct, manage, perform, do”).

Synonyms

managerrepresentativerepactorperformer

Antonyms

patientrecipientundergoer

This word in other languages

agente(Español)agent(Français)Agent(Deutsch)agente(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • aegnt
  • agennt
  • agentt
  • agetn
  • aggent
  • agnet
  • gaent

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of agent - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

aegnt2agennt1agentt1agetn2aggent1agnet2gaent2
Edit distance from "agent"

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 "agent"?
"agent" is spelled A-G-E-N-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈeɪ.d͡ʒənt/.
What does "agent" mean?
As a noun, "agent" means: One who exerts power, or has the power to act.
What words are commonly confused with "agent"?
"agent" is commonly confused with "ant", "ages", "aunt". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "agent"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "agent" is /ˈeɪ.d͡ʒənt/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "agent"?
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eǵ- Proto-Indo-European *h₂éǵeti Proto-Italic *agō Latin agō Latin agēnsder. English agent From Latin agēns, present active participle of agere (“to drive, lead, conduct, manage, perform, do”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "agent", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

apply#1,624basis#1,626Chris#1,628enter#1,632

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

metal7 variantsprime7 variantsfaith7 variantswaste7 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list