freeze

/ˈfɹiːz/

//ˈfɹiːz// verb

"freeze" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“freeze” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,965. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,965
frequency rank, English
2,507
“F” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
12
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Especially of a liquid, to become solid due to low temperature.

Corpus desk

Index EN-freeze · freeze · English

freeze · rank #5,965 · 8 variants · 12 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,965
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 12 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,507
  • PHOTO-FINISH eternal

Nearest frequency peer: eternal (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “freeze”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “freeze” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

freeze vs froze
67% similar
freeze vs frenzy
67% similar
freeze vs frieze
83% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for freeze
PropertyValue
Headwordfreeze
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈfɹiːz/
Letters6
Frequency rank#5,965
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs12
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “freeze”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).freezelands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “eternal” (#5,964), “generic” (#5,966), “establishing” (#5,963). Among 2,507 “F” headwords, “freeze” is #5,965. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around freeze (IPA /ˈfɹiːz/), averb. Corpus frequency is #5,965 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 13 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for freeze, with forms such as "fereze", "ffreeze", and "freeez". 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. It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "froze", "frenzy", "frieze", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English fresen, from Old English frēosan (“to freeze”), from Proto-West Germanic *freusan, from Proto-Germanic *freusaną (“to freeze”), from Proto-Indo-European *prews- (“to freeze; frost”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian friis, friise, frü… The correct English form is freeze, spelled F-R-E-E-Z-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Especially of a liquid, to become solid due to low temperature.
  2. 2
    To lower something's temperature to the point that it freezes or becomes hard.
  3. 3
    To drop to a temperature below zero degrees celsius, where water turns to ice.
  4. 4
    To be affected by extreme cold.
  5. 5
    Of a machine or system, to come to a sudden halt, to stop working (functioning).
  6. 6
    Of a person or other animal, to stop (become motionless) or be stopped due to attentiveness, fear, surprise, etc.
  7. 7
    To cause someone to become motionless.
  8. 8
    To lose or cause to lose warmth of feeling; to shut out; to ostracize.
  9. 9
    To cause loss of animation or life in, from lack of heat; to give the sensation of cold to; to chill.
  10. 10
    To prevent the movement or liquidation of a person's financial assets
  11. 11
    Of prices, spending etc., to keep at the same level, without any increase.
  12. 12
    To prevent from showing any visible change.
  13. 13
    To trap (the puck) so that it cannot be played.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The lake froze solid.
  2. 1855, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, The Song of Hiawatha, Book XX: The Famine, Ever thicker, thicker, thicker / Froze the ice on lake and river,

Etymology

From Middle English fresen, from Old English frēosan (“to freeze”), from Proto-West Germanic *freusan, from Proto-Germanic *freusaną (“to freeze”), from Proto-Indo-European *prews- (“to freeze; frost”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian friis, friise, früüs (“to freeze”), Saterland Frisian fjoose, frjoze (“to freeze”), West Frisian frieze (“to freeze”), Central Franconian freese (“to freeze”), Cimbrian briizan, vriizan (“to be cold”), Dutch vriezen (“to freeze”), Low German freren, fresen (“to freeze”), Luxembourgish fréieren (“to freeze”), German frieren (“to freeze”), Yiddish פֿרירן (frirn, “freeze”), Danish and Norwegian Bokmål fryse (“to freeze”), Icelandic frjósa (“to freeze”), Norwegian Nynorsk frysa, fryse (“to freeze”), Swedish frysa (“to freeze”); also Cornish rew (“frost, ice”), Irish reo (“frost”), reoigh (“to freeze”), Manx rio (“frost, ice”), Scottish Gaelic reòdh, reòth (“freeze”), Welsh rhew (“frost, ice”), Latin pruīna (“hoarfrost, rime”), Albanian prush (“embers”), Lithuanian prausti (“to give showers of rain”), Czech prskat (“to splutter, sputter”), Macedonian прска (prska, “to spray, sprinkle”), Polish pryskać, prysnąć (“to spray, sprinkle”), Russian пры́скать (prýskatʹ), пры́снуть (prýsnutʹ, “to spray, sprinkle”), Serbo-Croatian прскати, prskati (“to spray, sprinkle”), Sanskrit प्रुष्णोति (pruṣṇoti, “to moisten, shower, sprinkle, wet”), प्रुष्वा (pruṣvā, “hoarfrost, ice, rime”), Saraiki پسݨ (pussaṇ, “to become wet”).

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • fereze
  • ffreeze
  • freeez
  • freezze
  • freze
  • frezee
  • frreeze
  • rfeeze

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of freeze - 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.

fereze2ffreeze1freeez2freezze1freze1frezee2frreeze1rfeeze2
Edit distance from "freeze"

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 "freeze"?
"freeze" is spelled F-R-E-E-Z-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈfɹiːz/.
What does "freeze" mean?
As a verb, "freeze" means: Especially of a liquid, to become solid due to low temperature.
What words are commonly confused with "freeze"?
"freeze" is commonly confused with "froze", "frenzy", "frieze". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "freeze"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "freeze" is /ˈfɹiːz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "freeze"?
From Middle English fresen, from Old English frēosan (“to freeze”), from Proto-West Germanic *freusan, from Proto-Germanic *freusaną (“to freeze”), from Proto-Indo-European *prews- (“to freeze; frost”). Cognates Cognate with North Frisian friis, f... 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 "freeze", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list