amiss

/əˈmɪs/

//əˈmɪs// adj

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

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

The verdict

“amiss” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #31,430) as an adjective. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#31,430
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
2
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Wrong; faulty; out of order; improper or otherwise incorrect.

Corpus desk

Index EN-amiss · amiss · English

amiss · rank #31,430 · 2 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #31,430
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 2 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH amphetamine

Nearest frequency peer: amphetamine (+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.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “amiss”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “amiss” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

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).

amiss vs ass
60% similar
amiss vs axis
60% similar
amiss vs Amos
40% similar

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

Key facts for amiss
PropertyValue
Headwordamiss
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/əˈmɪs/
Letters5
Frequency rank#31,430
Misspellings tracked2
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “amiss”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).amisslands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “amphetamine” (#31,431), “agra” (#31,428), “aerodynamics” (#31,427). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “amiss” is #31,430. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for amiss is neighbouring look-alikes ("ass", "axis", …), not just typos; it is anadjective pronounced /əˈmɪs/. Frequency #31,430 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Gloss: "Wrong; faulty; out of order; improper or otherwise incorrect.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 2 likely wrong-spelling variants for amiss, including "ammiss" and "amsis". 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, "ass", "axis", "Amos", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From a- + miss. The correct English form is amiss, spelled A-M-I-S-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Wrong; faulty; out of order; improper or otherwise incorrect.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He suspected something was amiss.
  2. Something amiss in the arrangements had distracted the staff.

Etymology

From a- + miss.

Synonyms

awry

This word in other languages

fuera de lugar(Español)errado(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ammiss
  • amsis

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of amiss - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

ammiss1amsis2
Edit distance from "amiss"

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 "amiss"?
"amiss" is spelled A-M-I-S-S. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈmɪs/.
What does "amiss" mean?
As an adjective, "amiss" means: Wrong; faulty; out of order; improper or otherwise incorrect.
What words are commonly confused with "amiss"?
"amiss" is commonly confused with "ass", "axis", "Amos". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "amiss"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "amiss" is /əˈmɪs/. 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 "amiss"?
From a- + miss. 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 "amiss", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Abbie#31,423Aruba#31,443assed#31,444wreak#31,415

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list