fright
/fɹaɪt/
"fright" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“fright” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #19,603. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #19,603
- frequency rank, English
- 2,507
- “F” headwords
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 11
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - A state of terror excited by the sudden appearance of danger; sudden and violent fear, usually of short duration; a sudden alarm.
Corpus desk
Index EN-fright · fright · English
fright · rank #19,603 · 10 variants · 11 confusables
- FREQ-MID #19,603
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-MID 11 pairs
- VAR-MID 10 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,507
- PHOTO-FINISH footed
Nearest frequency peer: footed (-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 “fright”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- FLOPS
FLOPS
80,401 corpus weight
- Flores
Flores
80,400 corpus weight
- footed
footed
80,399 corpus weight
- fright
fright
80,398 corpus weight
- fruitful
fruitful
80,397 corpus weight
- gall
gall
80,396 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “fright” 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 | fright |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /fɹaɪt/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #19,603 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “fright” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 10 spelling variants around fright (IPA /fɹaɪt/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #19,603 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for fright, with forms such as "ffright", "firght", and "frgiht". 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 11 confusable-pair relationships, "frith", "frigid", "frighten", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English fright, furht, from Old English fryhtu, fyrhto (“fright, fear, dread, trembling, horrible sight”), from Proto-Germanic *furhtį̄ (“fear”), from Proto-Indo-European *pr̥k- (“to fear”). Cognate with Scots fricht (“fright”), Old Frisian fruc… The correct English form is fright, spelled F-R-I-G-H-T.
Definition
- 1A state of terror excited by the sudden appearance of danger; sudden and violent fear, usually of short duration; a sudden alarm.
- 2Someone strange, ugly or shocking, producing a feeling of alarm or aversion.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how fright appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
With a bolt of fright he remembered that there was no bathroom in the Hobhouse Room. He leapt along the corridor in a panic, stopping by the long-case clock at the end where he flattened himself against the wall.
Her maids were old, and if she took a new one, You might be sure she was a perfect fright; She did this during even her husband's life I recommend as much to every wife.
Etymology
From Middle English fright, furht, from Old English fryhtu, fyrhto (“fright, fear, dread, trembling, horrible sight”), from Proto-Germanic *furhtį̄ (“fear”), from Proto-Indo-European *pr̥k- (“to fear”). Cognate with Scots fricht (“fright”), Old Frisian fruchte (“fright”), Low German frucht (“fright”), Middle Dutch vrucht, German Furcht (“fear, fright”), Danish frygt (“fear”), Swedish fruktan (“fear, fright, dread”), Gothic 𐍆𐌰𐌿𐍂𐌷𐍄𐌴𐌹 (faurhtei, “fear, horror, fright”). Compare possibly Albanian frikë (“fear, fright, dread, danger”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ffright
- firght
- frgiht
- frigght
- frighht
- frightt
- frigth
- frihgt
- frright
- rfight
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fright - 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 "fright", 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 (10 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "fright". Here's where to go from here.
- "fright" maps to 11 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "frith". View pair
- 10 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #19,603 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "F" letter cohort. F–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.