bribery

/ˈbɹaɪbəɹi/

//ˈbɹaɪbəɹi// noun

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

"bribery" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bribery” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #17,091. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#17,091
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The act of giving an illegal payment (a bribe) to a person in an official position as a means of influencing their decisions.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bribery · bribery · English

bribery · rank #17,091 · 11 variants · 5 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #17,091
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 5 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH braking

Nearest frequency peer: braking (-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 “bribery”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “bribery” 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).

bribery vs bribes
71% similar
bribery vs bribe
71% similar
bribery vs bribed
71% similar

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

Key facts for bribery
PropertyValue
Headwordbribery
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbɹaɪbəɹi/
Letters7
Frequency rank#17,091
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “bribery”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).briberylands 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 “braking” (#17,090), “brunette” (#17,092), “bourgeois” (#17,089). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bribery” is #17,091. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around bribery (IPA /ˈbɹaɪbəɹi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #17,091 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for bribery, with forms such as "bbribery", "birbery", and "brbiery". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "bribes", "bribe", "bribed", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From bribe + -ery. The correct English form is bribery, spelled B-R-I-B-E-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    The act of giving an illegal payment (a bribe) to a person in an official position as a means of influencing their decisions.
  2. 2
    The activity of offering, giving, or accepting such bribes.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. accept bribery
  2. combat bribery

Etymology

From bribe + -ery.

This word in other languages

soborno(Español)corruption(Français)Bestechung(Deutsch)suborno(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbribery
  • birbery
  • brbiery
  • bribbery
  • briberry
  • briberyy
  • bribeyr
  • bribrey
  • briebry
  • brribery
  • rbibery

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

bbribery1birbery2brbiery2bribbery1briberry1briberyy1bribeyr2bribrey2
Edit distance from "bribery"

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 "bribery"?
"bribery" is spelled B-R-I-B-E-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbɹaɪbəɹi/.
What does "bribery" mean?
As a noun, "bribery" means: The act of giving an illegal payment (a bribe) to a person in an official position as a means of influencing their decisions.
What words are commonly confused with "bribery"?
"bribery" is commonly confused with "bribes", "bribe", "bribed". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bribery"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bribery" is /ˈbɹaɪbəɹi/. 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 "bribery"?
From bribe + -ery. 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 "bribery", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

braking#17,090Carlson#17,096bedding#17,084batsman#17,083

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

cleavage11 variantsconceive11 variantsculprit11 variantsverbally11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list