forklift
/ˈfɔɹklɪft/
"forklift" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“forklift” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #34,066 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #34,066
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A small industrial vehicle with a power-operated fork-like pronged platform that can be raised and lowered for insertion under a load, often on pallets, to be lifted and moved.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | forklift |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfɔɹklɪft/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #34,066 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “forklift” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for forklift is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfɔɹklɪft/. Corpus data places it at rank #34,066 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A small industrial vehicle with a power-operated fork-like pronged platform that can be raised and lowered for insertion under a load, often on pallets, to be lifted and moved.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for forklift, with forms such as "fforklift", "fokrlift", and "forkilft". 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, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From fork + lift. The correct English form is forklift, spelled F-O-R-K-L-I-F-T.
Definition
- 1A small industrial vehicle with a power-operated fork-like pronged platform that can be raised and lowered for insertion under a load, often on pallets, to be lifted and moved.
Etymology
From fork + lift.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: fforklift,fokrlift,forkilft,forkklift,forklfit,forklifft,forkliftt,forklitf,forkllift,forlkift,forrklift,froklift,ofrklift
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of forklift - 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 “forklift”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-O-R-K-L-I-F-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈfɔɹklɪft/ (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.