enliven
/ɛnˈlaɪvən/
"enliven" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“enliven” is uncommon English (frequency #58,666 among 18,836 “E” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #58,666
- frequency rank, English
- 18,836
- “E” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To give life or spirit to; to revive or animate.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | enliven |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɛnˈlaɪvən/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #58,666 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “enliven” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
enliven is uncommon English at frequency #58,666 among 18,836 “E” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ɛnˈlaɪvən/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
enliven doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From life + en- -en (intensifying verbal circumfix). See liven. The correct English form is enliven, spelled E-N-L-I-V-E-N.
Definition
- 1To give life or spirit to; to revive or animate.
- 2To make more lively, cheerful or interesting.
Etymology
From life + en- -en (intensifying verbal circumfix). See liven.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
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 “enliven”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-N-L-I-V-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɛnˈlaɪvən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.