drip
/dɹɪp/
"drip" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“drip” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #13,329. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #13,329
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - To fall one drop at a time.
Corpus desk
Index EN-drip · drip · English
drip · rank #13,329 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #13,329
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH duct
Nearest frequency peer: duct (+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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “drip”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- DNC
DNC
86,677 corpus weight
- Doris
Doris
86,675 corpus weight
- dorm
dorm
86,674 corpus weight
- drip
drip
86,672 corpus weight
- duct
duct
86,671 corpus weight
- eccentric
eccentric
86,670 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “drip” 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).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | drip |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /dɹɪp/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #13,329 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “drip” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around drip (IPA /dɹɪp/), averb. Corpus frequency is #13,329 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for drip, with forms such as "ddrip", "dirp", and "dripp". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "dry", "DUI", "dup", 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 Middle English drippen, druppen, from Old English drypan, from Proto-Germanic *drupjaną (“to fall in drops, drip”), from Proto-Germanic *drupô (“drop”). Akin to West Frisian drippe (“to drip”), Dutch druipen, druppelen (“to drip”), German Low German dr… The correct English form is drip, spelled D-R-I-P.
Definition
- 1To fall one drop at a time.
- 2To leak slowly.
- 3To let fall in drops.
- 4To have a superabundance of (something).
- 5To rain lightly; to drizzle.
- 6To be wet, to be soaked.
- 7To whine or complain consistently; to grumble.
- 8Be impressive or attractive.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how drip appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Listening to the tap next door drip all night drove me mad!
Does the sink drip, or have I just spilt water over the floor?
Etymology
From Middle English drippen, druppen, from Old English drypan, from Proto-Germanic *drupjaną (“to fall in drops, drip”), from Proto-Germanic *drupô (“drop”). Akin to West Frisian drippe (“to drip”), Dutch druipen, druppelen (“to drip”), German Low German drüppen (“to drip”), German tropfen, tröpfeln (“to drip”), Norwegian Bokmål dryppe, Norwegian Nynorsk drypa (“to drip”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ddrip
- dirp
- dripp
- drpi
- drrip
- rdip
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of drip - 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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "drip"?
What does "drip" mean?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "drip", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).
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.