illustrious

/ɪˈlʌs.tɹɪ.əs/

//ɪˈlʌs.tɹɪ.əs// adj

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

"illustrious" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“illustrious” has 14 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #19,364. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#19,364
frequency rank, English
2,140
“I” headwords
14
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Admired, distinguished, respected, or well-known.

Corpus desk

Index EN-illustrious · illustrious · English

illustrious · rank #19,364 · 14 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #19,364
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 14 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,140
  • PHOTO-FINISH hypocritical

Nearest frequency peer: hypocritical (-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 “illustrious”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “illustrious” 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).

illustrious vs industrious
82% similar

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

Key facts for illustrious
PropertyValue
Headwordillustrious
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ɪˈlʌs.tɹɪ.əs/
Letters11
Frequency rank#19,364
Misspellings tracked14
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “illustrious”

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

#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. Same rarity band neighbours include “hypocritical” (#19,363), “incidental” (#19,365), “hydra” (#19,362). Among 2,140 “I” headwords, “illustrious” is #19,364. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 14 spelling variants around illustrious (IPA /ɪˈlʌs.tɹɪ.əs/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #19,364 among 2,140 “I” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Admired, distinguished, respected, or well-known.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for illustrious, with forms such as "illsutrious", "illusrtious", and "illusstrious". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "industrious", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin illūstris (“bright, shining; distinguished, prominent, illustrious”) + -ous (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, to denote possession or presence of a quality in any degree). Illūstris is derived from illūstrō (“to brighten, illuminate; to make… The correct English form is illustrious, spelled I-L-L-U-S-T-R-I-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Admired, distinguished, respected, or well-known.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. A solid and substantial greatness of soul looks down, with a generous neglect, on the censures and applauses of the multitude, and places a man beyond the little noise and strife of tongues. Accordingly we find in ourselves a secret awe and veneration for the character of one who moves above us, in a regular and illustrious course of virtue, without any r…
  2. Really, for a man who had been out of practice for so many years, it was a splendid laugh, a most illustrious laugh. The father of a long, long line of brilliant laughs!

Etymology

From Latin illūstris (“bright, shining; distinguished, prominent, illustrious”) + -ous (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, to denote possession or presence of a quality in any degree). Illūstris is derived from illūstrō (“to brighten, illuminate; to make famous or illustrious”), from in- (“in, inside”) + lūstrō (“to purify by making a sacrifice; to brighten, illuminate”) (from lūstrō (“purificatory sacrifice”), possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“bright; to shine”) or *lewh₃- (“to wash”)).

This word in other languages

ilustre(Español)illustre(Français)glorreich(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • illsutrious
  • illusrtious
  • illusstrious
  • illustirous
  • illustriosu
  • illustriouss
  • illustriuos
  • illustroius
  • illustrrious
  • illusttrious
  • illutsrious
  • ilulstrious
  • ilustrious
  • lilustrious

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of illustrious - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

illsutrious2illusrtious2illusstrious1illustirous2illustriosu2illustriouss1illustriuos2illustroius2
Edit distance from "illustrious"

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 "illustrious"?
"illustrious" is spelled I-L-L-U-S-T-R-I-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ɪˈlʌs.tɹɪ.əs/.
What does "illustrious" mean?
As an adjective, "illustrious" means: Admired, distinguished, respected, or well-known.
What words are commonly confused with "illustrious"?
"illustrious" is commonly confused with "industrious". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "illustrious"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "illustrious" is /ɪˈlʌs.tɹɪ.əs/. 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 "illustrious"?
From Latin illūstris (“bright, shining; distinguished, prominent, illustrious”) + -ous (suffix forming adjectives from nouns, to denote possession or presence of a quality in any degree). Illūstris is derived from illūstrō (“to brighten, illuminat... 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 "illustrious", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

memorabilia#19,389explanatory#19,329dehydration#19,307prematurely#19,422

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (14 here; floor ≥5).

intimidate14 variantsFrancesco14 variantsFrancesca14 variantsformatting14 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list