flashlight
/ˈflæʃˌlaɪt/
"flashlight" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“flashlight” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,816 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #15,816
- frequency rank, English
- 10
- letters
- 17
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A battery-powered hand-held light source.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | flashlight |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈflæʃˌlaɪt/ |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #15,816 |
| Misspellings tracked | 17 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “flashlight” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for flashlight is 10 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈflæʃˌlaɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,816 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for flashlight, with forms such as "falshlight", "fflashlight", and "flahslight". 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. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From flash + light. The correct English form is flashlight, spelled F-L-A-S-H-L-I-G-H-T.
Definition
- 1A battery-powered hand-held light source.
- 2A flashgun (device used to create flashes of light for photography).
- 3A photograph taken with a flash camera.
Etymology
From flash + light.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: falshlight,fflashlight,flahslight,flashhlight,flashilght,flashlgiht,flashligght,flashlighht,flashlightt,flashligth,flashlihgt,flashllight,flaslhight,flasshlight,fllashlight,flsahlight,lfashlight
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of flashlight - 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
How do you spell "flashlight"?
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Using “flashlight”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-L-A-S-H-L-I-G-H-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈflæʃˌlaɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.