celebrate
/ˈsɛl.ɪ.bɹeɪt/
"celebrate" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“celebrate” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #3,045 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #3,045
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To extol or honour in a solemn manner.
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 | celebrate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈsɛl.ɪ.bɹeɪt/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #3,045 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “celebrate” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for celebrate is 9 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈsɛl.ɪ.bɹeɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,045 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for celebrate, with forms such as "ccelebrate", "ceelbrate", and "celberate". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "celibate", "celebrity", "celebrated", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English celebraten, from celebrat(e) (“celebrated”, also used as the past participle of celebraten) + -en, borrowed from Latin celebrātus, perfect passive participle of celebrō (“frequent, go to in great numbers, celebrate, honor, praise”) (see … The correct English form is celebrate, spelled C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To extol or honour in a solemn manner.
- 2To honour by rites, by ceremonies of joy and respect, or by refraining from ordinary business; to observe duly.
- 3To engage in joyful activity in appreciation of an event.
- 4To perform or participate in, as a sacrament or solemn rite; to perform with appropriate rites.
Etymology
From Middle English celebraten, from celebrat(e) (“celebrated”, also used as the past participle of celebraten) + -en, borrowed from Latin celebrātus, perfect passive participle of celebrō (“frequent, go to in great numbers, celebrate, honor, praise”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from celeber (“frequented, populous”). Displaced native Old English fæġnian.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccelebrate,ceelbrate,celberate,celebarte,celebbrate,celebraet,celebratte,celebrrate,celebrtae,celerbate,cellebrate,cleebrate,eclebrate
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of celebrate - 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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Using “celebrate”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-E-L-E-B-R-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈsɛl.ɪ.bɹeɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “celibate” - see the side-by-side comparison. celebrate vs celibate
- 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.