drivel
/dɹɪv.əl/
"drivel" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“drivel” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #40,669 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #40,669
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 16
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Nonsense; senseless talk.
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 | drivel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /dɹɪv.əl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #40,669 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 16 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “drivel” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for drivel is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dɹɪv.əl/. Corpus data places it at rank #40,669 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for drivel, with forms such as "ddrivel", "dirvel", and "drievl". 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 16 confusable-pair relationships, "drove", "driver", "driven", 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 dravel, dribil, a deverbal from drevelen, drivelen (Etymology 2). The correct English form is drivel, spelled D-R-I-V-E-L.
Definition
- 1Nonsense; senseless talk.
- 2Saliva, drool.
Etymology
From Middle English dravel, dribil, a deverbal from drevelen, drivelen (Etymology 2).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddrivel,dirvel,drievl,drivell,drivle,drivvel,drrivel,drviel,rdivel
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of drivel - 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 “drivel”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-R-I-V-E-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /dɹɪv.əl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “drove” - see the side-by-side comparison. drivel vs drove
- 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.