industrious

/ɪnˈdʌstɹi.əs/

//ɪnˈdʌstɹi.əs// adj

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

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

The verdict

“industrious” has 16 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #37,513. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#37,513
frequency rank, English
2,140
“I” headwords
16
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Hard-working and persistent.

Corpus desk

Index EN-industrious · industrious · English

industrious · rank #37,513 · 16 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #37,513
  • LEN-MEGA 11 letters
  • VOW-5 5 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 16 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,140
  • PHOTO-FINISH incapacity

Nearest frequency peer: incapacity (-2 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 “industrious”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “industrious” 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).

industrious vs industries
82% similar
industrious vs illustrious
82% similar

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

Key facts for industrious
PropertyValue
Headwordindustrious
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ɪnˈdʌstɹi.əs/
Letters11
Frequency rank#37,513
Misspellings tracked16
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “industrious”

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).industriouslands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “incapacity” (#37,511), “inaudible” (#37,510), “ingress” (#37,516). Among 2,140 “I” headwords, “industrious” is #37,513. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 16 spelling variants around industrious (IPA /ɪnˈdʌstɹi.əs/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #37,513 among 2,140 “I” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Hard-working and persistent.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for industrious, with forms such as "idnustrious", "inddustrious", and "indsutrious". 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, "industries", "illustrious", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French industrieux, from Late Latin industriosus (“diligent, active, industrious”), from Latin industria (“diligence, industry”); see industry. The correct English form is industrious, spelled I-N-D-U-S-T-R-I-O-U-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Hard-working and persistent.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He was a very industrious student at school.
  2. The ant has made himself illustrious / Through constant industry industrious. / So what? / Would you be calm and placid / If you were full of formic acid?

Etymology

From Middle French industrieux, from Late Latin industriosus (“diligent, active, industrious”), from Latin industria (“diligence, industry”); see industry.

Synonyms

industriousstudiousassiduousdiligentsedulousnotablepainstakinghard-workingworksome

Antonyms

lazy

This word in other languages

aplicado(Español)industrieux(Français)fleißig(Deutsch)trabalhador(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • idnustrious
  • inddustrious
  • indsutrious
  • indusrtious
  • indusstrious
  • industirous
  • industriosu
  • industriouss
  • industriuos
  • industroius
  • industrrious
  • industtrious
  • indutsrious
  • inndustrious
  • inudstrious
  • nidustrious

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of industrious - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

idnustrious2inddustrious1indsutrious2indusrtious2indusstrious1industirous2industriosu2industriouss1
Edit distance from "industrious"

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 "industrious"?
"industrious" is spelled I-N-D-U-S-T-R-I-O-U-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ɪnˈdʌstɹi.əs/.
What does "industrious" mean?
As an adjective, "industrious" means: Hard-working and persistent.
What words are commonly confused with "industrious"?
"industrious" is commonly confused with "industries", "illustrious". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "industrious"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "industrious" is /ɪnˈdʌstɹi.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 "industrious"?
From Middle French industrieux, from Late Latin industriosus (“diligent, active, industrious”), from Latin industria (“diligence, industry”); see industry. 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 "industrious", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

inadvertent#37,509familiarize#37,454Dunfermline#37,431omnipresent#37,604

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (16 here; floor ≥5).

matchmaker16 variantsneoclassical16 variantspermafrost16 variantsconveyance16 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list