comply
/kəmˈplaɪ/
"comply" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“comply” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,667 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #6,667
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 16
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To yield assent; to accord; to acquiesce, agree, consent; to adapt oneself, to conform.
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 | comply |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /kəmˈplaɪ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #6,667 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 16 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “comply” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for comply is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /kəmˈplaɪ/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,667 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 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for comply, with forms such as "ccomply", "cmoply", and "comlpy". 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 16 confusable-pair relationships, "copy", "couple", "costly", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Italian complire, Catalan complir (“to complete, fulfil; to carry out”), Spanish cumplir (“to complete, fulfil”), (alternatively from Old French compli), from Latin complēre, from compleō (“to finish, complete; to fulfil”), from com- (prefix indicating… The correct English form is comply, spelled C-O-M-P-L-Y.
Definition
- 1To yield assent; to accord; to acquiesce, agree, consent; to adapt oneself, to conform.
- 2To accomplish, to fulfil.
- 3To be ceremoniously courteous; to make one's compliments.
- 4To enfold; to embrace.
Etymology
From Italian complire, Catalan complir (“to complete, fulfil; to carry out”), Spanish cumplir (“to complete, fulfil”), (alternatively from Old French compli), from Latin complēre, from compleō (“to finish, complete; to fulfil”), from com- (prefix indicating completeness of an act) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm (“beside, near; by, with”)) + pleō (“to fill; to fulfil”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *pleh₁- (“to fill”)). The word is very close to the French verb complaire which means to satisfy or to please. The word is also cognate with Old French complir (“to accomplish, complete; to do”) (modern French accomplir (“to accomplish, achieve”)). Compare complete, compliment.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccomply,cmoply,comlpy,commply,complly,complyy,compply,compyl,copmly,ocmply
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of comply - 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
How do you spell "comply"?
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Using “comply”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-O-M-P-L-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /kəmˈplaɪ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “copy” - see the side-by-side comparison. comply vs copy
- 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.