curve
/kɜːv/
"curve" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“curve” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,671. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #5,671
- frequency rank, English
- 5,599
- “C” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Bent without angles; crooked; curved.
Corpus desk
Index EN-curve · curve · English
curve · rank #5,671 · 7 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #5,671
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 5,599
- PHOTO-FINISH cow
Nearest frequency peer: cow (-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 “curve”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- conviction
conviction
94,333 corpus weight
- corrupt
corrupt
94,332 corpus weight
- cow
cow
94,331 corpus weight
- curve
curve
94,330 corpus weight
- depressed
depressed
94,329 corpus weight
- deserved
deserved
94,328 corpus weight
What this shows “curve” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | curve |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /kɜːv/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #5,671 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “curve”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around curve (IPA /kɜːv/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #5,671 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Bent without angles; crooked; curved.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for curve, with forms such as "ccurve", "cruve", and "curev". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "cute", "cutie", "curvy", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Attested since the 1690s, from Latin curvus (“bent, curved”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to bend, curve, turn”) + *-wós. Doublet of curb, shrink, carcer, and cancer. The correct English form is curve, spelled C-U-R-V-E.
Definition
- 1Bent without angles; crooked; curved.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how curve appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
a curve line
a curve surface
Etymology
Attested since the 1690s, from Latin curvus (“bent, curved”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to bend, curve, turn”) + *-wós. Doublet of curb, shrink, carcer, and cancer.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ccurve
- cruve
- curev
- currve
- curvve
- cuvre
- ucrve
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of curve - 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "curve"?
What does "curve" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "curve"?
How do you pronounce "curve"?
What is the origin of the word "curve"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "curve", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).