flax
/flæks/
"flax" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“flax” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #27,151 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #27,151
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A plant of the genus Linum, especially Linum usitatissimum, which has a single, slender stalk, about a foot and a half high, with blue flowers. Also known as linseed, especially when referring to t...
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 | flax |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /flæks/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #27,151 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “flax” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for flax is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /flæks/. Corpus data places it at rank #27,151 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 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for flax, with forms such as "falx", "fflax", and "flaxx". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "fly", "fox", "flu", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English flax, from Old English fleax, from Proto-Germanic *flahsą, from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- (“to plait”). Cognate with Old Frisian flax, Dutch vlas, Old High German flahs (German Flachs); the Northern Germanic (and most likely the Gothic … The correct English form is flax, spelled F-L-A-X.
Definition
- 1A plant of the genus Linum, especially Linum usitatissimum, which has a single, slender stalk, about a foot and a half high, with blue flowers. Also known as linseed, especially when referring to the seeds.
- 2The fibers of Linum usitatissimum, grown to make linen and related textiles.
- 3A flax bush, a plant of the genus Phormium, native to New Zealand, with strap-like leaves up to 3 metres long that grow in clumps.
Etymology
From Middle English flax, from Old English fleax, from Proto-Germanic *flahsą, from Proto-Indo-European *pleḱ- (“to plait”). Cognate with Old Frisian flax, Dutch vlas, Old High German flahs (German Flachs); the Northern Germanic (and most likely the Gothic too) stem is different.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: falx,fflax,flaxx,fllax,flxa,lfax
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of flax - 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 “flax”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-L-A-X - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /flæks/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “fly” - see the side-by-side comparison. flax vs fly
- 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.