ASAP
/ˈeɪ.sæp/
"asap" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ASAP” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #9,438 in English word frequency and used as an adverb.
- #9,438
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Initialism of as soon as possible.
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 | ASAP |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adverb |
| IPA | /ˈeɪ.sæp/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #9,438 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ASAP” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for ASAP is 4 letters long, classified as an adverb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈeɪ.sæp/. Corpus data places it at rank #9,438 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Initialism of as soon as possible.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for ASAP, with forms such as "aasp", "asapp", and "aspa". 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, "ask", "ass", "ash", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From the 1950s. First known use in a book of Captain Annis G Thompson, who was involved in the Korean War, The Greatest Airlift (1954). Originally used in the meaning "as soon as militarily possible" by military forces. The correct English form is ASAP, spelled A-S-A-P.
Definition
- 1Initialism of as soon as possible.
Etymology
From the 1950s. First known use in a book of Captain Annis G Thompson, who was involved in the Korean War, The Greatest Airlift (1954). Originally used in the meaning "as soon as militarily possible" by military forces.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: aasp,asapp,aspa,assap,saap
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ASAP - 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 “ASAP”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-S-A-P - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈeɪ.sæp/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “ask” - see the side-by-side comparison. ASAP vs ask
- 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.