alcove
/ˈæl.kəʊv/
"alcove" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“alcove” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #45,777 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #45,777
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A small recessed area set off from a larger room.
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 | alcove |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈæl.kəʊv/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #45,777 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “alcove” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for alcove is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈæl.kəʊv/. Corpus data places it at rank #45,777 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. 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 alcove, with forms such as "aclove", "alccove", and "alcoev". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "aloe", "alone", "alive", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French alcôve, from Spanish alcoba or Portuguese alcova, from Arabic القُبَّة (al-qubba, “vault, chamber with vaulted roof”). Doublet of qubba. The correct English form is alcove, spelled A-L-C-O-V-E.
Definition
- 1A small recessed area set off from a larger room.
- 2A shady retreat.
- 3The geographical and geological term for a steep-sided hollow in the side of an exposed rock face or cliff of a homogeneous rock type, that was water eroded.
Etymology
From French alcôve, from Spanish alcoba or Portuguese alcova, from Arabic القُبَّة (al-qubba, “vault, chamber with vaulted roof”). Doublet of qubba.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aclove,alccove,alcoev,alcovve,alcvoe,allcove,alocve,lacove
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of alcove - 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 “alcove”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-L-C-O-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈæl.kəʊv/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “aloe” - see the side-by-side comparison. alcove vs aloe
- 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.