immediate

/ɪˈmiː.dɪət/

//ɪˈmiː.dɪət// adj

"immediate" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“immediate” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,899. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,899
frequency rank, English
2,140
“I” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Happening right away, instantly, with no delay.

Corpus desk

Index EN-immediate · immediate · English

immediate · rank #2,899 · 10 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,899
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,140
  • PHOTO-FINISH introduction

Nearest frequency peer: introduction (+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 “immediate”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “immediate” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

immediate vs immediately
82% similar
immediate vs immediacy
78% similar

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

Key facts for immediate
PropertyValue
Headwordimmediate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ɪˈmiː.dɪət/
Letters9
Frequency rank#2,899
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “immediate” sits in English frequency

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).immediate lands 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. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around immediate (IPA /ɪˈmiː.dɪət/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #2,899 among 2,140 “I” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for immediate, with forms such as "imediate", "imemdiate", and "immdeiate". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "immediately", "immediacy", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Old French immediat (French immédiat), borrowed from Late Latin immediātus (“without in-between, moderation”), from Latin in + mediātus, perfect passive participle of mediō (“to halve, to be in the middle”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from m… The correct English form is immediate, spelled I-M-M-E-D-I-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Happening right away, instantly, with no delay.
  2. 2
    Very close; direct or adjacent.
  3. 3
    Manifestly true; requiring no argument.
  4. 4
    Embedded as part of the instruction itself, rather than stored elsewhere (such as a register or memory location).
  5. 5
    Used to denote that a transmission is urgent.
  6. 6
    An artillery fire mission modifier for two types of fire mission to denote an immediate need for fire: Immediate smoke, all guns involved must reload smoke and fire. Immediate suppression, all guns involved fire the rounds currently loaded and then switch to high explosive with impact fused (unless fuses are specified).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Computer users these days expect immediate results when they click on a link.
  2. Assemble we immediate council.

Etymology

From Old French immediat (French immédiat), borrowed from Late Latin immediātus (“without in-between, moderation”), from Latin in + mediātus, perfect passive participle of mediō (“to halve, to be in the middle”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from medius (“middle”). By surface analysis, im- + mediate.

Synonyms

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • imediate
  • imemdiate
  • immdeiate
  • immedaite
  • immeddiate
  • immediaet
  • immediatte
  • immeditae
  • immeidate
  • mimediate

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

imediate1imemdiate2immdeiate2immedaite2immeddiate1immediaet2immediatte1immeditae2
Edit distance from "immediate"

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 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "immediate"?
"immediate" is spelled I-M-M-E-D-I-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ɪˈmiː.dɪət/.
What does "immediate" mean?
As an adjective, "immediate" means: Happening right away, instantly, with no delay.
What words are commonly confused with "immediate"?
"immediate" is commonly confused with "immediately", "immediacy". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "immediate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "immediate" is /ɪˈmiː.dɪət/. 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 "immediate"?
From Old French immediat (French immédiat), borrowed from Late Latin immediātus (“without in-between, moderation”), from Latin in + mediātus, perfect passive participle of mediō (“to halve, to be in the middle”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix... 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 "immediate", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 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 "immediate". Here's where to go from here.

  • "immediate" maps to 2 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "immediately". View pair
  • 10 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #2,899 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "I" letter cohort. I–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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list