fifteen
/ˈfɪf.tiːn/
"fifteen" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“fifteen” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #5,681 in English word frequency and used as a numeral.
- #5,681
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The cardinal number occurring after fourteen (14) and before sixteen (16).
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 | fifteen |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Numeral |
| IPA | /ˈfɪf.tiːn/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #5,681 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “fifteen” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for fifteen is 7 letters long, classified as a numeral, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfɪf.tiːn/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,681 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "The cardinal number occurring after fourteen (14) and before sixteen (16).".
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for fifteen, with forms such as "ffifteen", "ffiteen", and "fifeten". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "fifties", "fifteenth", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *pénkʷe From Middle English fiftene, from Old English fīftīene, fīftēne, from Proto-Germanic *fimftehun. Cognate with West Frisian fyftjin, Dutch vijftien, German fünfzehn, Danish femten. Equivalent to five + -teen. The correct English form is fifteen, spelled F-I-F-T-E-E-N.
Definition
- 1The cardinal number occurring after fourteen (14) and before sixteen (16).
Etymology
PIE word *pénkʷe From Middle English fiftene, from Old English fīftīene, fīftēne, from Proto-Germanic *fimftehun. Cognate with West Frisian fyftjin, Dutch vijftien, German fünfzehn, Danish femten. Equivalent to five + -teen.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ffifteen,ffiteen,fifeten,fiffteen,fifteenn,fiften,fiftene,fiftteen,fitfeen,iffteen
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fifteen - 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.
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 “fifteen”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-I-F-T-E-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈfɪf.tiːn/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “fifties” - see the side-by-side comparison. fifteen vs fifties
- 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.