flank
/ˈflæŋk/
"flank" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“flank” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #12,241 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #12,241
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To attack the flank(s) of.
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 | flank |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈflæŋk/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #12,241 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “flank” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for flank is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈflæŋk/. Corpus data places it at rank #12,241 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 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for flank, with forms such as "falnk", "fflank", and "flakn". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "flat", "funk", "flaw", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Late Middle English flanc, from Late Old English flanc (“flank”), from Old French flanc, of Germanic origin, probably Frankish *hlanca, from Proto-Germanic *hlankō (“bend, curve, hip, flank”), from Proto-Germanic *hlankaz (“flexible, sleek, bendsome”),… The correct English form is flank, spelled F-L-A-N-K.
Definition
- 1To attack the flank(s) of.
- 2To defend the flank(s) of.
- 3To place to the side(s) of.
- 4To be placed to the side(s) of something (usually in terms of two objects, one on each side).
Etymology
From Late Middle English flanc, from Late Old English flanc (“flank”), from Old French flanc, of Germanic origin, probably Frankish *hlanca, from Proto-Germanic *hlankō (“bend, curve, hip, flank”), from Proto-Germanic *hlankaz (“flexible, sleek, bendsome”), from Proto-Indo-European *kleng- (“to bend”). Akin to Old High German hlanca (“loin”), Middle Low German lanke (“hip joint”) (German lenken (“to bend, turn, lead”)), Old English hlanc (“loose, slender, flaccid, lank”). More at lank.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: falnk,fflank,flakn,flankk,flannk,fllank,flnak,lfank
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of flank - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “flank”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-L-A-N-K - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈflæŋk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “flat” - see the side-by-side comparison. flank vs flat
- 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.