decides
/dɪˈsaɪdz/
"decides" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“decides” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #5,490 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #5,490
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 12
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - third-person singular simple present indicative of decide
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 | decides |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /dɪˈsaɪdz/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #5,490 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 12 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “decides” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for decides is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dɪˈsaɪdz/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,490 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "third-person singular simple present indicative of decide".
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for decides, with forms such as "dceides", "ddecides", and "deccides". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "decode", "devices", "desires", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is decides, spelled D-E-C-I-D-E-S.
Definition
- 1third-person singular simple present indicative of decide
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: dceides,ddecides,deccides,decdies,deciddes,decidess,decidse,decieds,deicdes,edcides
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of decides - 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
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Using “decides”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-E-C-I-D-E-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /dɪˈsaɪdz/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “decode” - see the side-by-side comparison. decides vs decode
- 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.