infest
/ɪnˈfɛst/
"infest" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“infest” is an uncommon English word, ranked #50,592 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #50,592
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To inhabit a place in unpleasantly large numbers; to plague, harass.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | infest |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ɪnˈfɛst/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #50,592 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “infest” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for infest is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪnˈfɛst/. Corpus data places it at rank #50,592 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
infest has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English infesten, from Old French infester (“to infest”), from Latin īnfestō (“assail, molest”, verb), from īnfestus (“hostile”). The correct English form is infest, spelled I-N-F-E-S-T.
Definition
- 1To inhabit a place in unpleasantly large numbers; to plague, harass.
- 2To invade a host plant or animal.
Etymology
From Middle English infesten, from Old French infester (“to infest”), from Latin īnfestō (“assail, molest”, verb), from īnfestus (“hostile”).
This word in other languages
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
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Using “infest”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-N-F-E-S-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪnˈfɛst/ (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.