flax
/flæks/
"flax" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“flax” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #27,151. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #27,151
- frequency rank, English
- 2,507
- “F” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 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...
Corpus desk
Index EN-flax · flax · English
flax · rank #27,151 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #27,151
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,507
- PHOTO-FINISH fifths
Nearest frequency peer: fifths (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “flax”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- fervor
fervor
72,853 corpus weight
- fiduciary
fiduciary
72,852 corpus weight
- fifths
fifths
72,851 corpus weight
- flax
flax
72,850 corpus weight
- fractional
fractional
72,849 corpus weight
- freighter
freighter
72,848 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “flax” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around flax (IPA /flæks/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #27,151 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "flax", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).
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.