impose
/ɪmˈpəʊz/
"impose" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“impose” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #8,047 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #8,047
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 10
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To physically lay or place (something) on another thing; to deposit, to put, to set.
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 | impose |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɪmˈpəʊz/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #8,047 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “impose” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for impose is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪmˈpəʊz/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,047 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for impose, with forms such as "immpose", "imopse", and "impoes". 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 10 confusable-pair relationships, "impure", "improve", "imposed", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: The verb is derived from Late Middle English imposen (“to place, set; to impose (a duty, etc.)”), borrowed from Middle French imposer, and Old French emposer, enposer (“to impose (a duty, tax, etc.)”) (modern French imposer), from im-, em- (variants of en- … The correct English form is impose, spelled I-M-P-O-S-E.
Definition
- 1To physically lay or place (something) on another thing; to deposit, to put, to set.
- 2To physically lay or place (something) on another thing; to deposit, to put, to set.
- 3To physically lay or place (something) on another thing; to deposit, to put, to set.
- 4To apply, enforce, or establish (something, often regarded as burdensome as a restriction or tax: see verb sense 1.2.1) with authority.
- 5Chiefly followed by on or upon.
- 6Chiefly followed by on or upon.
- 7Chiefly followed by on or upon.
- 8Chiefly followed by on or upon.
Etymology
The verb is derived from Late Middle English imposen (“to place, set; to impose (a duty, etc.)”), borrowed from Middle French imposer, and Old French emposer, enposer (“to impose (a duty, tax, etc.)”) (modern French imposer), from im-, em- (variants of en- (prefix meaning ‘in, into’)) + poser (“to place, put”), modelled after: * Latin impōnere (“to place or set (something) on; (figurative) to impose (a duty, tax, etc.)”), from im- (variant of in- (prefix meaning ‘on, upon’)) + pōnō (“to place, put; etc.”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂pó, *h₂epó (“away; off”) + *tḱey- (“to cultivate; to live; to settle”)); and * Latin impositus (“established; put upon, imposed”), the perfect passive participle of impōnō: see above. The noun is derived from the verb.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: immpose,imopse,impoes,imposse,imppose,impsoe,ipmose,mipose
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of impose - 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 "impose"?
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Using “impose”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-M-P-O-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪmˈpəʊz/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “impure” - see the side-by-side comparison. impose vs impure
- 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.