allergy

/ˈæl.əɹ.d͡ʒi/

//ˈæl.əɹ.d͡ʒi// noun

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

"allergy" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“allergy” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #12,905. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#12,905
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A disorder of the immune system causing adverse reactions to substances (allergens) not harmful to most and marked by the body's production of histamines and associated with atopy, anaphylaxis, and...

Corpus desk

Index EN-allergy · allergy · English

allergy · rank #12,905 · 9 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #12,905
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH agony

Nearest frequency peer: agony (-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 “allergy”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “allergy” 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).

allergy vs alley
71% similar
allergy vs allege
71% similar
allergy vs allergic
75% similar

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

Key facts for allergy
PropertyValue
Headwordallergy
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈæl.əɹ.d͡ʒi/
Letters7
Frequency rank#12,905
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “allergy”

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).allergylands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “agony” (#12,904), “Armenian” (#12,906), “astronaut” (#12,907). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “allergy” is #12,905. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around allergy (IPA /ˈæl.əɹ.d͡ʒi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #12,905 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for allergy, with forms such as "alelrgy", "alergy", and "allegry". 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, "alley", "allege", "allergic", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from German Allergie. Coined by Austrian pediatrician Clemens von Pirquet in 1906 from Ancient Greek ἄλλος (állos, “other”) + ἔργον (érgon, “work, activity”), on the model of Energie. The correct English form is allergy, spelled A-L-L-E-R-G-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A disorder of the immune system causing adverse reactions to substances (allergens) not harmful to most and marked by the body's production of histamines and associated with atopy, anaphylaxis, and asthma; any condition of hypersensitivity to a substance.
  2. 2
    A disorder of the immune system causing adverse reactions to substances (allergens) not harmful to most and marked by the body's production of histamines and associated with atopy, anaphylaxis, and asthma; any condition of hypersensitivity to a substance.
  3. 3
    An antipathy, as toward a person or activity.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. He has an allergy to reality TV.

Etymology

Borrowed from German Allergie. Coined by Austrian pediatrician Clemens von Pirquet in 1906 from Ancient Greek ἄλλος (állos, “other”) + ἔργον (érgon, “work, activity”), on the model of Energie.

Synonyms

type 1 hypersensitivityintolerance

This word in other languages

alergia(Español)allergie(Français)Allergie(Deutsch)alergia(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • alelrgy
  • alergy
  • allegry
  • allerggy
  • allergyy
  • allerrgy
  • alleryg
  • allregy
  • lalergy

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of allergy - 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.

alelrgy2alergy1allegry2allerggy1allergyy1allerrgy1alleryg2allregy2
Edit distance from "allergy"

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 "allergy"?
"allergy" is spelled A-L-L-E-R-G-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈæl.əɹ.d͡ʒi/.
What does "allergy" mean?
As a noun, "allergy" means: A disorder of the immune system causing adverse reactions to substances (allergens) not harmful to most and marked by the body's production of histamines and associated with atopy, anaphylaxis, and...
What words are commonly confused with "allergy"?
"allergy" is commonly confused with "alley", "allege", "allergic". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "allergy"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "allergy" is /ˈæl.əɹ.d͡ʒi/. 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 "allergy"?
Borrowed from German Allergie. Coined by Austrian pediatrician Clemens von Pirquet in 1906 from Ancient Greek ἄλλος (állos, “other”) + ἔργον (érgon, “work, activity”), on the model of Energie. 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 "allergy", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

adapter#12,898Bedford#12,914bourbon#12,924breaker#12,925

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

youths9 variantsBenson9 variantsutmost9 variantsunrest9 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list