foreigner
/ˈfɒɹ.ɪ.nə(ɹ)/
"foreigner" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“foreigner” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,409 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #15,409
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person from a foreign country.
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 | foreigner |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfɒɹ.ɪ.nə(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #15,409 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “foreigner” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for foreigner is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfɒɹ.ɪ.nə(ɹ)/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,409 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for foreigner, with forms such as "fforeigner", "foerigner", and "foreginer". 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, "foreigners", "foreign", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English forner, foreyner, foroner, forenere, augmentation of earlier forein (“foreigner”), from the adjective. Equivalent to foreign + -er. Use of the -er suffix may be due to analogy with Middle English straunger (“stranger”). Displaced native … The correct English form is foreigner, spelled F-O-R-E-I-G-N-E-R.
Definition
- 1A person from a foreign country.
- 2A private job run by an employee at a trade factory rather than going through the business.
Etymology
From Middle English forner, foreyner, foroner, forenere, augmentation of earlier forein (“foreigner”), from the adjective. Equivalent to foreign + -er. Use of the -er suffix may be due to analogy with Middle English straunger (“stranger”). Displaced native Old English elþēodiġ.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: fforeigner,foerigner,foreginer,foreigenr,foreiggner,foreignerr,foreignner,foreignre,foreinger,foriegner,forreigner,froeigner,ofreigner
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of foreigner - 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 “foreigner”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-O-R-E-I-G-N-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈfɒɹ.ɪ.nə(ɹ)/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “foreigners” - see the side-by-side comparison. foreigner vs foreigners
- 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.