congratulation

Name: congratulation, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/kənˌɡɹæd͡ʒʊˈleɪʃ(ə)n/

//kənˌɡɹæd͡ʒʊˈleɪʃ(ə)n// noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“congratulation” has 22 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #40,180. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#40,180
frequency rank, English: 5,599
“C” headwords: 22
tracked misspellings: 2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The act of congratulating.

Corpus desk

Index EN-congratulation · congratulation · English

congratulation · rank #40,180 · 22 variants · 2 confusables

FREQ-MID #40,180
LEN-MEGA 14 letters
VOW-6 6 vowels
CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
VAR-HIGH 22 variants
BOOK-DENSE 5,599
PHOTO-FINISH congratulatory

Nearest frequency peer: congratulatory (+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.

Cockburn

59,825
Coltrane

59,824
commonality

59,823
congratulat…

59,821
congratulat…

59,820
Conlon

59,819

What this shows Bars show where “congratulation” 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).

congratulation vs congratulations

93% similar

congratulation vs congratulating

86% similar

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

Key facts for congratulation
Property	Value
Headword	congratulation
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/kənˌɡɹæd͡ʒʊˈleɪʃ(ə)n/
Letters	14
Frequency rank	#40,180
Misspellings tracked	22
Confusable pairs	2
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “congratulation” sits in English frequency

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).congratulationlands here:

#40,180

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “congratulatory” (#40,181), “commonality” (#40,178), “Conlon” (#40,182). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 22 spelling variants around congratulation (IPA /kənˌɡɹæd͡ʒʊˈleɪʃ(ə)n/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #40,180 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Dominant gloss: "The act of congratulating.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 22 likely wrong-spelling variants for congratulation, with forms such as "ccongratulation", "cnogratulation", and "cognratulation". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "congratulations", "congratulating", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English congratulacion, from Middle French congratulation or its etymon Latin congrātulātiō, from congrātulor (“to congratulate”). By surface analysis, congratulate + -ion. The correct English form is congratulation, spelled C-O-N-G-R-A-T-U-L-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

1
The act of congratulating.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

May I present my warmest congratulations?

Etymology

From Middle English congratulacion, from Middle French congratulation or its etymon Latin congrātulātiō, from congrātulor (“to congratulate”). By surface analysis, congratulate + -ion.

Synonyms

congratulating

This word in other languages

felicitación(Español)félicitation(Français)Glückwunsch(Deutsch)felicitação(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

ccongratulation
cnogratulation
cognratulation
congartulation
conggratulation
congratluation
congrattulation
congratualtion
congratulaiton
congratulasion
congratulatino
congratulationn
congratulatoin
congratulattion
congratullation
congratultaion
congrautlation
congrratulation
congrtaulation
conngratulation
conrgatulation
ocngratulation

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

Edit distance from "congratulation"

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 "congratulation"?

"congratulation" is spelled C-O-N-G-R-A-T-U-L-A-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /kənˌɡɹæd͡ʒʊˈleɪʃ(ə)n/.

What does "congratulation" mean?

As a noun, "congratulation" means: The act of congratulating.

What words are commonly confused with "congratulation"?

"congratulation" is commonly confused with "congratulations", "congratulating". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "congratulation"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "congratulation" is /kənˌɡɹæd͡ʒʊˈleɪʃ(ə)n/. 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 "congratulation"?

From Middle English congratulacion, from Middle French congratulation or its etymon Latin congrātulātiō, from congrātulor (“to congratulate”). By surface analysis, congratulate + -ion. 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 "congratulation", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 14 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

congratulatory#40,181 gerrymandering#39,825 counterbalance#39,758 disintegrating#40,658

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (22 here; floor ≥5).

cryptographic22 variants developmentally22 variants individualistic22 variants immunodeficiency22 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "congratulation". Here's where to go from here.

"congratulation" maps to 2 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "congratulations". View pair
22 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
Usage frequency rank #40,180 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
Browse more English words in the "C" letter cohort. C–Z browse
PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.