derail
/ˌdəˈɹeɪ.əl/
"derail" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“derail” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #26,059. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #26,059
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 11
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Synonym of derailer: A device placed on railway tracks in order to cause a train to derail.
Corpus desk
Index EN-derail · derail · English
derail · rank #26,059 · 8 variants · 11 confusables
- FREQ-MID #26,059
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 11 pairs
- VAR-MID 8 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH Desi
Nearest frequency peer: Desi (+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 “derail”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- Dax
Dax
73,946 corpus weight
- debtor
debtor
73,945 corpus weight
- denouncing
denouncing
73,944 corpus weight
- derail
derail
73,942 corpus weight
- Desi
Desi
73,941 corpus weight
- dispatcher
dispatcher
73,939 corpus weight
What this shows “derail” 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 | derail |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌdəˈɹeɪ.əl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #26,059 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “derail”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 8 spelling variants around derail (IPA /ˌdəˈɹeɪ.əl/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #26,059 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for derail, with forms such as "dderail", "dearil", and "deraill". 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 11 confusable-pair relationships, "devil", "drain", "Desai", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French dérailler (“to go off the rails”). Analyzable as de- + rail. The correct English form is derail, spelled D-E-R-A-I-L.
Definition
- 1Synonym of derailer: A device placed on railway tracks in order to cause a train to derail.
- 2An instance of diverting a conversation or debate from its original topic.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how derail appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The derail was placed deliberately so that the train would fall into the river.
Etymology
From French dérailler (“to go off the rails”). Analyzable as de- + rail.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- dderail
- dearil
- deraill
- derali
- derial
- derrail
- dreail
- edrail
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of derail - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "derail", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).