bereft
/bəˈɹɛft/
"bereft" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bereft” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #36,885. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #36,885
- frequency rank, English
- 31,241
- “B” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 12
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - simple past and past participle of bereave
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 | bereft |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /bəˈɹɛft/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #36,885 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 12 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bereft” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around bereft (IPA /bəˈɹɛft/), averb. Corpus frequency is #36,885 among 31,241 “B” headwords. Dominant gloss: "simple past and past participle of bereave".
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for bereft, with forms such as "bbereft", "beerft", and "berefft". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "Bert", "brett", "Brent", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English bireft, v. Middle English bireven. Synchronically a form of bereaved; compare leave and left. The correct English form is bereft, spelled B-E-R-E-F-T.
Definition
- 1simple past and past participle of bereave
Etymology
From Middle English bireft, v. Middle English bireven. Synchronically a form of bereaved; compare leave and left.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- bbereft
- beerft
- berefft
- bereftt
- beretf
- berfet
- berreft
- breeft
- ebreft
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bereft - 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
How do you spell "bereft"?
What does "bereft" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "bereft"?
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Using “bereft”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-E-R-E-F-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /bəˈɹɛft/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Bert” - see the side-by-side comparison. bereft vs Bert
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Same frequency band
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.