amidst
/aˈmɪdst/
"amidst" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“amidst” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #13,657 in English word frequency and used as a preposition.
- #13,657
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among.
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 | amidst |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Preposition |
| IPA | /aˈmɪdst/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #13,657 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “amidst” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for amidst is 6 letters long, classified as a preposition, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /aˈmɪdst/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,657 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for amidst, with forms such as "aimdst", "amdist", and "amiddst". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "amit", "Amis", "Amish", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From amids + -t (excrescent), from amid + -s (genitive). By surface analysis, amid + -st (excrescent). Root amid from Middle English amidde, amiddes, on midden, from Old English on middan (“in the middle”), from midd (“central”) (English mid). The correct English form is amidst, spelled A-M-I-D-S-T.
Definition
- 1In the midst or middle of; surrounded or encompassed by; among.
Etymology
From amids + -t (excrescent), from amid + -s (genitive). By surface analysis, amid + -st (excrescent). Root amid from Middle English amidde, amiddes, on midden, from Old English on middan (“in the middle”), from midd (“central”) (English mid).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aimdst,amdist,amiddst,amidsst,amidstt,amidts,amisdt,ammidst,maidst
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of amidst - 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.
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 “amidst”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-M-I-D-S-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /aˈmɪdst/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “amit” - see the side-by-side comparison. amidst vs amit
- 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.