blithe
/blaɪð/
"blithe" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“blithe” is an uncommon English word, ranked #54,049 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #54,049
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern; nonchalant.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | blithe |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /blaɪð/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #54,049 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “blithe” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for blithe is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /blaɪð/. Corpus data places it at rank #54,049 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for blithe, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English blithe (“glad, happy, joyful; causing joy, joyous; gentle, mild; gracious, merciful; bright, shining; beautiful, fair”) [and other forms], from Old English blīþe (“happy, gentle”), from Proto-West Germanic *blīþī, from Proto-Germanic *bl… The correct English form is blithe, spelled B-L-I-T-H-E.
Definition
- 1Casually careless or indifferent; showing a lack of concern; nonchalant.
- 2Cheerful, happy.
Etymology
From Middle English blithe (“glad, happy, joyful; causing joy, joyous; gentle, mild; gracious, merciful; bright, shining; beautiful, fair”) [and other forms], from Old English blīþe (“happy, gentle”), from Proto-West Germanic *blīþī, from Proto-Germanic *blīþiz (“friendly; gentle, mild; pleasing”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰlī- (“fine; light; pleasant”), from Proto-Indo-European *bʰel- (“shiny; white”).
This word in other languages
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 “blithe”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-L-I-T-H-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /blaɪð/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.