eligible
/ˈɛl.ə.d͡ʒə.bəl/adjective, noun
eligible is spelled E-L-I-G-I-B-L-E. The wrong spelling people search most is eligable: about 620 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10 of all searches for the word. Eligible is an adjective meaning “Allowed to and meeting the necessary conditions required to participate in or be chosen for something”.
How many letters and syllables are in eligible?
| Letters | 8: E-L-I-G-I-B-L-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 19 times per million words; the 4,365th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, eligable, about 620 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell eligible?
Eligible is spelled E-L-I-G-I-B-L-E. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 10 of the searches for eligible in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is eligible?
Eligible appears 19 times per million words in written English, the 4,365th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce eligible?
- UK /ˈɛl.ɪ.d͡ʒɪ.bəl/
- UK /ˈɛl.ɪ.d͡ʒə.bəl/
- US /ˈɛl.ə.d͡ʒə.bəl/
Eligible has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-eligible.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Ajshul-eligible.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with eligible?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as eligible from its last stressed vowel (/ɛlədʒəbəl/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of eligible
- more eligible comparative
- most eligible superlative
- eligibles plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does eligible mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Allowed to and meeting the necessary conditions required to participate in or be chosen for something.
- 2
Worthy of being chosen (for marriage).
an eligible bachelor
noun
- 1
One who is eligible.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate eligible?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of eligible: elig..
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Eligible in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | éligible, admissible |
| German | berechtigt, infrage kommend, geeignet, zulässig, zulassungsfähig , heiratswürdig |
| Portuguese | elegível |
| Spanish | idóneo, eligible |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does eligible come from?
From Middle French eligible, from Latin eligibilis, from ēligō (“to select, to choose”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).