betray
/bɪˈtɹeɪ/
"betray" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“betray” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #16,645. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #16,645
- frequency rank, English
- 4,121
- “B” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 12
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To deliver into the hands of an enemy by treachery or fraud, in violation of trust; to give up treacherously or faithlessly.
Corpus desk
Index EN-betray · betray · English
betray · rank #16,645 · 9 variants · 12 confusables
- FREQ-MID #16,645
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 12 pairs
- VAR-MID 9 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,121
- PHOTO-FINISH bel
Nearest frequency peer: bel (-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 “betray”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- Basel
Basel
83,359 corpus weight
- Beckett
Beckett
83,358 corpus weight
- bel
bel
83,357 corpus weight
- betray
betray
83,356 corpus weight
- Betsy
Betsy
83,355 corpus weight
- bigotry
bigotry
83,354 corpus weight
What this shows “betray” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | betray |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /bɪˈtɹeɪ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #16,645 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 12 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “betray”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around betray (IPA /bɪˈtɹeɪ/), averb. Corpus frequency is #16,645 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for betray, with forms such as "bbetray", "bertay", and "betary". 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 12 confusable-pair relationships, "bray", "betty", "Betsy", 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 Middle English betrayen, bitrayen (“to commit an act of treason against”), equivalent to be- + tray (“to betray”). further etymology information Middle English bi- is from Old English be- (“be-”), from Proto-Germanic *bi- (“be-”), from Proto-Germanic *… The correct English form is betray, spelled B-E-T-R-A-Y.
Definition
- 1To deliver into the hands of an enemy by treachery or fraud, in violation of trust; to give up treacherously or faithlessly.
- 2To prove faithless or treacherous to, as to a trust or one who trusts; to be false to; to deceive.
- 3To violate the confidence of, by disclosing a secret, or that which one is bound in honor not to make known.
- 4To disclose (a secret, etc.) in deliberate violation of someone’s confidence.
- 5To disclose or indicate, for example something which prudence would conceal; to reveal unintentionally.
- 6To mislead; to expose to inconvenience not foreseen; to lead into error or sin.
- 7To lead astray; to seduce (as under promise of marriage) and then abandon.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how betray appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
An officer betrayed the city.
to betray a person or a cause
Etymology
From Middle English betrayen, bitrayen (“to commit an act of treason against”), equivalent to be- + tray (“to betray”). further etymology information Middle English bi- is from Old English be- (“be-”), from Proto-Germanic *bi- (“be-”), from Proto-Germanic *bi (“near, by”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁epi (“at, near”). Compare also traitor, treason, tradition. The modern sense “to disclose, discover, reveal unintentionally” is due to influence from or merger with English bewray (“to reveal, divulge”), which is similar in sound and meaning. The similarity with German betrügen, Dutch bedriegen, from Proto-West Germanic *bidreugan (“to betray, deceive”), is coincidental.
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- bbetray
- bertay
- betary
- betrayy
- betrray
- betrya
- bettray
- bteray
- ebtray
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of betray - 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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "betray", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).