approval
/əˈpɹuvəl/noun
approval is spelled A-P-P-R-O-V-A-L. The wrong spelling people search most is aproval: about 210 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 30 of all searches for the word. Approval is a noun meaning “An expression granting permission; an indication of agreement with a proposal; an acknowledgement that a…”. The plural of approval is approvals.
How many letters and syllables are in approval?
| Letters | 8: A-P-P-R-O-V-A-L |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 32 times per million words; the 2,992nd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, aproval, about 210 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell approval?
Approval is spelled A-P-P-R-O-V-A-L. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 30 of the searches for approval in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is approval?
Approval appears 32 times per million words in written English, the 2,992nd most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce approval?
- UK /əˈpɹuːvəl/
- US /əˈpɹuvəl/
Approval has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-approval.wav, En-us-approval.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with approval?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as approval from its last stressed vowel (/uvəl/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of approval
- approvals plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does approval mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An expression granting permission; an indication of agreement with a proposal; an acknowledgement that a person, thing, or event meets requirements.
I need to get an approval on this purchase order.
- 2
An expression of favorable acceptance and encouragement; a compliment that also condones.
Words of approval never seem to come from him.
- 3
Something mailed by a seller to a collector to match their stated interests; the collector can approve of or return the item.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate approval?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of approval: appr.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Approval in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | agrément, approbation |
| German | Genehmigung, Billigung, Erlaubnis , Zustimmung |
| Portuguese | aprovação |
| Spanish | aprobación, venia, beneplácito |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.