Alaska
/əˈlæs.kə/
"alaska" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Alaska” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #5,184 in English word frequency and used as a proper noun.
- #5,184
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A state of the United States, formerly a territory. Capital: Juneau. Largest city: Anchorage. Postal code: AK.
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 | Alaska |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /əˈlæs.kə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #5,184 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Alaska” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for Alaska is 6 letters long, classified as a proper noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈlæs.kə/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,184 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 10 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 Alaska, with forms such as "aalska", "alaksa", and "alasak". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "Alyssa", "Alisha", "Alaskan", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Russian Аля́ска (Aljáska, “Alaska”), in turn from Aleut alaxsxaq (“a mainland”, literally “that toward which the action of the sea is directed”), composed of alag (“pertaining to the sea”) + -sxa (nominalizing suffix, yields 'the objective of action ex… The correct English form is Alaska, spelled A-L-A-S-K-A.
Definition
- 1A state of the United States, formerly a territory. Capital: Juneau. Largest city: Anchorage. Postal code: AK.
- 2A peninsula in southwest Alaska, United States, in full the Alaska Peninsula.
- 3Several places in the United States, named for the state or territory.
- 4Several places in the United States, named for the state or territory.
- 5Several places in the United States, named for the state or territory.
- 6Several places in the United States, named for the state or territory.
- 7Several places in the United States, named for the state or territory.
- 8Several places in the United States, named for the state or territory.
- 9Several places in the United States, named for the state or territory.
- 10A barangay of Aringay, La Union, Philippines.
Etymology
From Russian Аля́ска (Aljáska, “Alaska”), in turn from Aleut alaxsxaq (“a mainland”, literally “that toward which the action of the sea is directed”), composed of alag (“pertaining to the sea”) + -sxa (nominalizing suffix, yields 'the objective of action expressed by the root') + -q (nominalizing suffix). Commonly misattributed to Russian ала (ala) + -ский (-skij, adjectival suffix).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aalska,alaksa,alasak,alaskka,alasska,allaska,alsaka,laaska
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Alaska - 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
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Using “Alaska”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-L-A-S-K-A - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əˈlæs.kə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Alyssa” - see the side-by-side comparison. Alaska vs Alyssa
- 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.