festival

/ˈfɛstɪvl̩/

//ˈfɛstɪvl̩// adj

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

"festival" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“festival” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,940. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,940
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Pertaining to a feast or feast day; festive. (Now only as the noun used attributively.)

Corpus desk

Index EN-festival · festival · English

festival · rank #1,940 · 12 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,940
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH failure

Nearest frequency peer: failure (-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 “festival”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “festival” 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).

festival vs festive
75% similar

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

Key facts for festival
PropertyValue
Headwordfestival
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈfɛstɪvl̩/
Letters8
Frequency rank#1,940
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “festival”

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “failure” (#1,939), “flat” (#1,941), “facts” (#1,938). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “festival” is #1,940. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around festival (IPA /ˈfɛstɪvl̩/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #1,940 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Pertaining to a feast or feast day; festive. (Now only as the noun used attributively.)".

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for festival, with forms such as "efstival", "fesitval", and "fesstival". 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, "festive", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English festival (adjective), from Old French festival (“festive”), from Late Latin fēstīvālis, from Latin fēstīvus (“festive”). By surface analysis, festive + -al. Displaced native Old English frēols. The noun is shortened from festival day, fr… The correct English form is festival, spelled F-E-S-T-I-V-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Pertaining to a feast or feast day; festive. (Now only as the noun used attributively.)

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. the temple of the Gods […] / Whom all the people decke with girlands greene, / And honour in their festiuall resort […]

Etymology

From Middle English festival (adjective), from Old French festival (“festive”), from Late Latin fēstīvālis, from Latin fēstīvus (“festive”). By surface analysis, festive + -al. Displaced native Old English frēols. The noun is shortened from festival day, from Middle English festival dai, festiuall day (“feast day, festival”).

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • efstival
  • fesitval
  • fesstival
  • festiavl
  • festivall
  • festivla
  • festivval
  • festtival
  • festvial
  • fetsival
  • ffestival
  • fsetival

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

efstival2fesitval2fesstival1festiavl2festivall1festivla2festivval1festtival1
Edit distance from "festival"

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 "festival"?
"festival" is spelled F-E-S-T-I-V-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfɛstɪvl̩/.
What does "festival" mean?
As an adjective, "festival" means: Pertaining to a feast or feast day; festive. (Now only as the noun used attributively.)
What words are commonly confused with "festival"?
"festival" is commonly confused with "festive". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "festival"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "festival" is /ˈfɛstɪvl̩/. 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 "festival"?
From Middle English festival (adjective), from Old French festival (“festive”), from Late Latin fēstīvālis, from Latin fēstīvus (“festive”). By surface analysis, festive + -al. Displaced native Old English frēols. The noun is shortened from festiv... 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 "festival", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

entirely#1,937electric#1,934citizens#1,930regional#1,964

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

assistant12 variantsreaction12 variantsteaching12 variantsadvanced12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list