competitor

/kəmˈpɛt.ɪ.tɚ/

//kəmˈpɛt.ɪ.tɚ// noun

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

"competitor" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“competitor” has 15 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #9,453. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,453
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
15
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A person or organization against whom one is competing.

Corpus desk

Index EN-competitor · competitor · English

competitor · rank #9,453 · 15 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,453
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 15 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH coding

Nearest frequency peer: coding (-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 “competitor”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “competitor” 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).

competitor vs competition
82% similar

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

Key facts for competitor
PropertyValue
Headwordcompetitor
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kəmˈpɛt.ɪ.tɚ/
Letters10
Frequency rank#9,453
Misspellings tracked15
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “competitor”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).competitorlands 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 “coding” (#9,452), “Chester” (#9,451), “cuisine” (#9,455). Among 5,599 “C” headwords, “competitor” is #9,453. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around competitor (IPA /kəmˈpɛt.ɪ.tɚ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #9,453 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for competitor, with forms such as "ccompetitor", "cmopetitor", and "comeptitor". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "competition", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French compétiteur, from Latin competitor. The correct English form is competitor, spelled C-O-M-P-E-T-I-T-O-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A person or organization against whom one is competing.
  2. 2
    A participant in a competition, especially in athletics.
  3. 3
    Partner, associate, one working with another toward a common goal.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Hitherto the river had given facilities to Kingston traders which their competitors elsewhere could not possess, but now the railway took the malt from distant towns to the London market at lower rates than the bargemasters.
  2. Ioine with me now in this my meane eſtate, […] And when my name and honor ſhall be ſpread, As far as Boreas claps his braſen wings, Or faire Botëes ſends his cheerefull light. Then ſhalt thou be Competitor with me, And ſit with Tamburlaine in all his maieſtie.

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French compétiteur, from Latin competitor.

Synonyms

adversaryopponentcontestant

This word in other languages

contrincante(Español)compétiteur(Français)Konkurrent(Deutsch)competidor(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccompetitor
  • cmopetitor
  • comeptitor
  • commpetitor
  • compeittor
  • competiotr
  • competitorr
  • competitro
  • competittor
  • compettior
  • compettitor
  • comppetitor
  • compteitor
  • copmetitor
  • ocmpetitor

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ccompetitor1cmopetitor2comeptitor2commpetitor1compeittor2competiotr2competitorr1competitro2
Edit distance from "competitor"

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 "competitor"?
"competitor" is spelled C-O-M-P-E-T-I-T-O-R. The IPA pronunciation is /kəmˈpɛt.ɪ.tɚ/.
What does "competitor" mean?
As a noun, "competitor" means: A person or organization against whom one is competing.
What words are commonly confused with "competitor"?
"competitor" is commonly confused with "competition". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "competitor"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "competitor" is /kəmˈpɛt.ɪ.tɚ/. 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 "competitor"?
Borrowed from Middle French compétiteur, from Latin competitor. 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 "competitor", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

algorithms#9,433infectious#9,481Wellington#9,420vocabulary#9,419

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

privileged15 variantspredecessor15 variantshistorians15 variantsfragments15 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list