fugitive
/ˈfjuːd͡ʒɪtɪv/
"fugitive" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“fugitive” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #14,125 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #14,125
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person who flees or escapes and travels secretly from place to place, and sometimes using disguises and aliases to conceal their identity, as to avoid law authorities in order to avoid an arrest ...
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | fugitive |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfjuːd͡ʒɪtɪv/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #14,125 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “fugitive” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for fugitive is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfjuːd͡ʒɪtɪv/. Corpus data places it at rank #14,125 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A person who flees or escapes and travels secretly from place to place, and sometimes using disguises and aliases to conceal their identity, as to avoid law authorities in order to avoid an arrest ...".
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for fugitive, with forms such as "ffugitive", "fguitive", and "fuggitive". 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 is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since its spelling is unusual enough that it doesn't cluster with a lookalike.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English fugitive, fugityve, fugityf, fugitife, fugytif, fugitif, from Latin fugitīvus. The correct English form is fugitive, spelled F-U-G-I-T-I-V-E.
Definition
- 1A person who flees or escapes and travels secretly from place to place, and sometimes using disguises and aliases to conceal their identity, as to avoid law authorities in order to avoid an arrest or prosecution, or to avoid some other unwanted situation.
Etymology
From Middle English fugitive, fugityve, fugityf, fugitife, fugytif, fugitif, from Latin fugitīvus.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ffugitive,fguitive,fuggitive,fugiitve,fugitiev,fugitivve,fugittive,fugitvie,fugtiive,fuigtive,ufgitive
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of fugitive - 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
How do you spell "fugitive"?
What does "fugitive" mean?
What are common misspellings of "fugitive"?
How do you pronounce "fugitive"?
What is the origin of the word "fugitive"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “fugitive”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-U-G-I-T-I-V-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈfjuːd͡ʒɪtɪv/ (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.