attract
/əˈtɹækt/
"attract" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“attract” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #5,099 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #5,099
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To pull toward without touching.
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 | attract |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /əˈtɹækt/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #5,099 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “attract” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for attract is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈtɹækt/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,099 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for attract, with forms such as "atract", "atrtact", and "attarct". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "attracted", "attack", "attach", 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 Latin attractus, past participle of attrahere (“to draw to, attract”), from ad (“to”) + trahere (“to draw”). The correct English form is attract, spelled A-T-T-R-A-C-T.
Definition
- 1To pull toward without touching.
- 2To draw by moral, emotional or sexual influence; to engage or fix, as the mind, attention, etc.; to invite or allure.
- 3To incur.
Etymology
From Latin attractus, past participle of attrahere (“to draw to, attract”), from ad (“to”) + trahere (“to draw”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: atract,atrtact,attarct,attracct,attractt,attratc,attrcat,attrract,tatract
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of attract - 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 “attract”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is A-T-T-R-A-C-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əˈtɹækt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “attracted” - see the side-by-side comparison. attract vs attracted
- 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.