broken
/ˈbɹəʊ.kn̩/
"broken" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“broken” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,387. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #1,387
- frequency rank, English
- 31,241
- “B” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 19
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - past participle of break
Corpus desk
Index EN-broken · broken · English
broken · rank #1,387 · 9 variants · 19 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #1,387
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 19 pairs
- VAR-MID 9 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 31,241
- PHOTO-FINISH block
Nearest frequency peer: block (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “broken”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- ain't
ain't
98,617 corpus weight
- award
award
98,616 corpus weight
- block
block
98,615 corpus weight
- broken
broken
98,614 corpus weight
- caused
caused
98,613 corpus weight
- challenge
challenge
98,612 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “broken” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | broken |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈbɹəʊ.kn̩/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #1,387 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 19 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “broken” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around broken (IPA /ˈbɹəʊ.kn̩/), averb. Corpus frequency is #1,387 among 31,241 “B” headwords. Dominant gloss: "past participle of break".
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for broken, with forms such as "bbroken", "borken", and "brkoen". 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 19 confusable-pair relationships, "brown", "broker", "Brooke", 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 broken, from Old English brocen, ġebrocen, from Proto-Germanic *brukanaz, past participle of Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”). Cognate with Dutch gebroken (“broken”), German Low German broken (“broken”), German gebrochen (“broken”). … The correct English form is broken, spelled B-R-O-K-E-N.
Definition
- 1past participle of break
Etymology
From Middle English broken, from Old English brocen, ġebrocen, from Proto-Germanic *brukanaz, past participle of Proto-Germanic *brekaną (“to break”). Cognate with Dutch gebroken (“broken”), German Low German broken (“broken”), German gebrochen (“broken”). Morphologically broke + -n.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- bbroken
- borken
- brkoen
- broekn
- brokenn
- brokken
- brokne
- brroken
- rboken
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of broken - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "broken"?
What does "broken" mean?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "broken", 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).
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.