detect
/dɪˈtɛkt/
"detect" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“detect” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,557 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #6,557
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 15
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To discover or find by careful search, examination, or probing.
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 | detect |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /dɪˈtɛkt/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #6,557 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 15 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “detect” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for detect is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dɪˈtɛkt/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,557 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "To discover or find by careful search, examination, or probing.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for detect, with forms such as "ddetect", "deetct", and "detcet". 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 15 confusable-pair relationships, "deter", "direct", "detest", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin detectus, perfect passive participle of detegere (“to uncover or disclose”), from de- + tegere (“to cover”); see tegument, tile, thatch. The correct English form is detect, spelled D-E-T-E-C-T.
Definition
- 1To discover or find by careful search, examination, or probing.
Etymology
From Latin detectus, perfect passive participle of detegere (“to uncover or disclose”), from de- + tegere (“to cover”); see tegument, tile, thatch.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddetect,deetct,detcet,detecct,detectt,detetc,dettect,dteect,edtect
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of detect - 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
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Using “detect”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-E-T-E-C-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /dɪˈtɛkt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “deter” - see the side-by-side comparison. detect vs deter
- 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.