errant
/ˈɛɹ(ə)nt/
"errant" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“errant” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #32,380 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #32,380
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Straying from the proper course or standard, or outside established limits.
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 | errant |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈɛɹ(ə)nt/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #32,380 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “errant” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for errant is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɛɹ(ə)nt/. Corpus data places it at rank #32,380 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for errant, with forms such as "erant", "erarnt", and "errannt". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 3 confusable-pair relationships, "extant", "errand", "entrant", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English erraunt [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman erraunt, from Old French errant, the present participle of errer (“to walk (to); to wander (to); (figuratively) to travel, voyage”), and then: * from Vulgar Latin iterāre (compare Late Latin i… The correct English form is errant, spelled E-R-R-A-N-T.
Definition
- 1Straying from the proper course or standard, or outside established limits.
- 2Roving around; wandering.
- 3Prone to erring or making errors; misbehaving.
- 4Obsolete form of arrant (“complete; downright, utter”).
Etymology
From Middle English erraunt [and other forms], from Anglo-Norman erraunt, from Old French errant, the present participle of errer (“to walk (to); to wander (to); (figuratively) to travel, voyage”), and then: * from Vulgar Latin iterāre (compare Late Latin itinerāre, itinerāri (“to travel, voyage”)), from Latin iter (“a route (including a journey, trip; a course; a path; a road)”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ey- (“to go”); and * from Latin errantem, the accusative feminine or masculine singular of errāns (“straying, errant; wandering”), the present active participle of errō (“to rove, wander; to get lost, go astray; to err, wander from the truth”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₁ers- (“to flow”). Doublet of arrant.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: erant,erarnt,errannt,errantt,erratn,errnat,rerant
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of errant - 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “errant”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-R-R-A-N-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɛɹ(ə)nt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “extant” - see the side-by-side comparison. errant vs extant
- 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.