febrile

/ˈfiːbɹaɪl/

//ˈfiːbɹaɪl// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"febrile" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“febrile” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #49,918. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#49,918
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Feverish, or having a high temperature.

Corpus desk

Index EN-febrile · febrile · English

febrile · rank #49,918 · 10 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #49,918
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH Fenn

Nearest frequency peer: Fenn (+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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “febrile”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “febrile” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

febrile vs fertile
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for febrile
PropertyValue
Headwordfebrile
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈfiːbɹaɪl/
Letters7
Frequency rank#49,918
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “febrile”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).febrilelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Fenn” (#49,919), “FCO” (#49,916), “flail” (#49,921). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “febrile” is #49,918. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around febrile (IPA /ˈfiːbɹaɪl/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #49,918 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for febrile, with forms such as "efbrile", "fberile", and "febbrile". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "fertile", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Medieval Latin febrīlis, from Latin febris (“fever”). The correct English form is febrile, spelled F-E-B-R-I-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Feverish, or having a high temperature.
  2. 2
    Involving fever as a symptom or cause.
  3. 3
    Full of nervous energy.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how febrile appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Aurora's orange sun (Baley scarcely noted the orange tinge now) was mildly warm on his back, lacking the febrile heat that Earth's sun had in summer (but, then, what was the climate and season on this portion of Aurora right now?).
  2. An already febrile atmosphere within the ground before the start had been stoked still further when France's players formed an arrow formation to face down the haka, and then advanced slowly over halfway as the capacity crowd roared.

Etymology

Borrowed from Medieval Latin febrīlis, from Latin febris (“fever”).

This word in other languages

febril(Español)fébrile(Français)febril(Deutsch)febril(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • efbrile
  • fberile
  • febbrile
  • febirle
  • febriel
  • febrille
  • febrlie
  • febrrile
  • ferbile
  • ffebrile

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of febrile - 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.

efbrile2fberile2febbrile1febirle2febriel2febrille1febrlie2febrrile1
Edit distance from "febrile"

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

How do you spell "febrile"?
"febrile" is spelled F-E-B-R-I-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfiːbɹaɪl/.
What does "febrile" mean?
As an adjective, "febrile" means: Feverish, or having a high temperature.
What words are commonly confused with "febrile"?
"febrile" is commonly confused with "fertile". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "febrile"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "febrile" is /ˈfiːbɹaɪl/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "febrile"?
Borrowed from Medieval Latin febrīlis, from Latin febris (“fever”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "febrile", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

falsify#49,913Goldwyn#49,949dominus#49,878gunship#49,958

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

guttural10 variantshellhole10 variantsdecibel10 variantsHoltby10 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list