based
/beɪst/
"based" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“based” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #285 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #285
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Founded on; having a basis; often used in combining forms.
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 | based |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /beɪst/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #285 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “based” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for based is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /beɪst/. Corpus data places it at rank #285 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Founded on; having a basis; often used in combining forms.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for based, with forms such as "absed", "baesd", and "basde". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "bed", "bass", "bash", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From base + -ed. The correct English form is based, spelled B-A-S-E-D.
Definition
- 1Founded on; having a basis; often used in combining forms.
Etymology
From base + -ed.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: absed,baesd,basde,basedd,bassed,bbased,bsaed
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of based - 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.
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 “based”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-A-S-E-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /beɪst/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “bed” - see the side-by-side comparison. based vs bed
- 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.