forgivable

adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"forgivable" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“forgivable” is uncommon English (frequency #64,384 among 2,507 “F” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#64,384
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Able to be forgiven; worthy of forgiveness.

Corpus desk

Index EN-forgivable · forgivable · English

forgivable · rank #64,384 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #64,384
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH Foran

Nearest frequency peer: Foran (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “forgivable”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “forgivable” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for forgivable
PropertyValue
Headwordforgivable
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
Letters10
Frequency rank#64,384
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “forgivable” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).forgivablefalls in this rarity band:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “Foran” (#64,383), “footstool” (#64,382), “Folger” (#64,381). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “forgivable” is #64,384. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

forgivable is uncommon English at frequency #64,384 among 2,507 “F” headwords, classed as anadjective. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for forgivable, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From forgive + -able. Partially displaced non-native Middle English pardonable (“capable of being pardoned, forgivable”) from Old French pardonable (“forgivable”). The correct English form is forgivable, spelled F-O-R-G-I-V-A-B-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Able to be forgiven; worthy of forgiveness.
  2. 2
    Of a loan, or a portion of it: such that repayment may be deferred for a period, or canceled, by the lender, if the borrower meets certain obligations.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how forgivable appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. It's even forgivable here when the band sometimes sounds as though they've phoned in the Stonesy swagger, because when they're on, the Hellacopters sound like the best garage rock/bar band in the world.
  2. In retrospect, the misunderstanding about the plan was forgivable […]

Etymology

From forgive + -able. Partially displaced non-native Middle English pardonable (“capable of being pardoned, forgivable”) from Old French pardonable (“forgivable”).

This word in other languages

pardonnable(Français)verzeihlich(Deutsch)perdoável(Português)

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 "forgivable"?
"forgivable" is spelled F-O-R-G-I-V-A-B-L-E.
What does "forgivable" mean?
As an adjective, "forgivable" means: Able to be forgiven; worthy of forgiveness.
What is the origin of the word "forgivable"?
From forgive + -able. Partially displaced non-native Middle English pardonable (“capable of being pardoned, forgivable”) from Old French pardonable (“forgivable”). See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "forgivable", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Greenblatt#64,410groupthink#64,414heptathlon#64,420highwayman#64,424

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list