athlete

/ˈæθ.liːt/

//ˈæθ.liːt// noun

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

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

The verdict

“athlete” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,936. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,936
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A participant in any of a group of sporting activities including track and field, road running, cross country running and racewalking.

Corpus desk

Index EN-athlete · athlete · English

athlete · rank #5,936 · 10 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,936
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH Ashley

Nearest frequency peer: Ashley (-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 “athlete”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “athlete” 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).

athlete vs athletic
75% similar

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

Key facts for athlete
PropertyValue
Headwordathlete
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈæθ.liːt/
Letters7
Frequency rank#5,936
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “athlete”

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).athletelands 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 “Ashley” (#5,935), “attraction” (#5,937), “artwork” (#5,934). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “athlete” is #5,936. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around athlete (IPA /ˈæθ.liːt/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,936 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for athlete, with forms such as "ahtlete", "athelte", and "athhlete". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "athletic", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English athlete, from Latin āthlēta (and probably also partly from Middle French athlete), from Ancient Greek ἀθλητής (athlētḗs), from ἀθλέω (athléō, “compete for a prize”), from ἆθλον (âthlon, “prize”) or ἆθλος (âthlos, “competition”). The correct English form is athlete, spelled A-T-H-L-E-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A participant in any of a group of sporting activities including track and field, road running, cross country running and racewalking.
  2. 2
    A person who actively participates in physical sports, especially with great skill; a sportsperson.
  3. 3
    An exceptionally physically fit person.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. She's the first athlete in her sport to obtain a corporate sponsor.
  2. Athletes' use of herbal supplements has skyrocketed in the past two decades. At the top of the list of popular herbs are echinacea and ginseng, whereas garlic, St. John's wort, soybean, ephedra and others are also surging in popularity or have been historically prevalent.

Etymology

From Middle English athlete, from Latin āthlēta (and probably also partly from Middle French athlete), from Ancient Greek ἀθλητής (athlētḗs), from ἀθλέω (athléō, “compete for a prize”), from ἆθλον (âthlon, “prize”) or ἆθλος (âthlos, “competition”).

Synonyms

sportspersoncompetitorjockprosportsmansportswoman

Antonyms

nonathlete

This word in other languages

atleta(Español)athlète(Français)Athlet(Deutsch)atleta(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ahtlete
  • athelte
  • athhlete
  • athleet
  • athlette
  • athllete
  • athltee
  • atlhete
  • atthlete
  • tahlete

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ahtlete2athelte2athhlete1athleet2athlette1athllete1athltee2atlhete2
Edit distance from "athlete"

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 "athlete"?
"athlete" is spelled A-T-H-L-E-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈæθ.liːt/.
What does "athlete" mean?
As a noun, "athlete" means: A participant in any of a group of sporting activities including track and field, road running, cross country running and racewalking.
What words are commonly confused with "athlete"?
"athlete" is commonly confused with "athletic". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "athlete"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "athlete" is /ˈæθ.liːt/. 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 "athlete"?
From Middle English athlete, from Latin āthlēta (and probably also partly from Middle French athlete), from Ancient Greek ἀθλητής (athlētḗs), from ἀθλέω (athléō, “compete for a prize”), from ἆθλον (âthlon, “prize”) or ἆθλος (âthlos, “competition”). 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 "athlete", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

artwork#5,934arrives#5,933closure#5,945convert#5,949

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

sounded10 variantsenabled10 variantseternal10 variantsgeneric10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list