blaze

/bleɪz/

//bleɪz// noun

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

"blaze" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“blaze” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #11,346. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#11,346
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A fire, especially a fast-burning fire producing a lot of flames and light.

Corpus desk

Index EN-blaze · blaze · English

blaze · rank #11,346 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #11,346
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH beverage

Nearest frequency peer: beverage (-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 “blaze”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “blaze” 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).

blaze vs BLE
0% similar
blaze vs blue
60% similar
blaze vs brave
60% similar

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

Key facts for blaze
PropertyValue
Headwordblaze
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/bleɪz/
Letters5
Frequency rank#11,346
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “blaze”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).blazelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “beverage” (#11,345), “Brendan” (#11,347), “beads” (#11,344). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “blaze” is #11,346. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around blaze (IPA /bleɪz/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #11,346 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for blaze, with forms such as "balze", "bblaze", and "blaez". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "BLE", "blue", "brave", 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 blase, from Old English blæse, blase (“firebrand, torch, lamp, flame”), from Proto-West Germanic *blasā, from Proto-Germanic *blasǭ (“torch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to shine, be white”). Cognate with Low German blas (“burning… The correct English form is blaze, spelled B-L-A-Z-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A fire, especially a fast-burning fire producing a lot of flames and light.
  2. 2
    Intense, direct light accompanied with heat.
  3. 3
    A high-visibility orange colour, typically used in warning signs and hunters' clothing.
  4. 4
    A bursting out, or active display of any quality.
  5. 5
    A hand consisting of five face cards.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Long after his cigar burnt bitter, he sat with eyes fixed on the blaze. When the flames at last began to flicker and subside, his lids fluttered, then drooped; but he had lost all reckoning of time when he opened them again to find Miss Erroll in furs and ball-gown kneeling on the hearth and heaping kindling on the coals,[…].
  2. They sought shelter from the blaze of the sun.

Etymology

From Middle English blase, from Old English blæse, blase (“firebrand, torch, lamp, flame”), from Proto-West Germanic *blasā, from Proto-Germanic *blasǭ (“torch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to shine, be white”). Cognate with Low German blas (“burning candle, torch, fire”), Middle High German blas (“candle, torch, flame”).

This word in other languages

llama(Español)feu(Français)Flammenmeer(Deutsch)labareda(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • balze
  • bblaze
  • blaez
  • blazze
  • bllaze
  • blzae
  • lbaze

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

balze2bblaze1blaez2blazze1bllaze1blzae2lbaze2
Edit distance from "blaze"

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 "blaze"?
"blaze" is spelled B-L-A-Z-E. The IPA pronunciation is /bleɪz/.
What does "blaze" mean?
As a noun, "blaze" means: A fire, especially a fast-burning fire producing a lot of flames and light.
What words are commonly confused with "blaze"?
"blaze" is commonly confused with "BLE", "blue", "brave". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "blaze"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "blaze" is /bleɪz/. 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 "blaze"?
From Middle English blase, from Old English blæse, blase (“firebrand, torch, lamp, flame”), from Proto-West Germanic *blasā, from Proto-Germanic *blasǭ (“torch”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“to shine, be white”). Cognate with Low German blas... 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 "blaze", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

beads#11,344Brent#11,348Carlo#11,353caves#11,354

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

abuses7 variantstidal7 variantsghetto7 variantshides7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list