insolent
/ˈɪn.sə.lənt/
"insolent" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“insolent” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #39,862 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #39,862
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Insulting in manner or words, particularly in an arrogant or insubordinate manner.
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 | insolent |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈɪn.sə.lənt/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #39,862 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “insolent” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for insolent is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɪn.sə.lənt/. Corpus data places it at rank #39,862 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.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for insolent, with forms such as "innsolent", "inoslent", and "insloent". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "insolvent", "innocent", "insolence", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: PIE word *swé From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin īnsolēns (“unaccustomed, unwanted, unusual, immoderate, excessive, arrogant, insolent”), from in- (privative prefix) + solēns, present participle of solēre (“to be accustomed, to be wont”). The correct English form is insolent, spelled I-N-S-O-L-E-N-T.
Definition
- 1Insulting in manner or words, particularly in an arrogant or insubordinate manner.
- 2Rude.
Etymology
PIE word *swé From Middle English, from Old French, from Latin īnsolēns (“unaccustomed, unwanted, unusual, immoderate, excessive, arrogant, insolent”), from in- (privative prefix) + solēns, present participle of solēre (“to be accustomed, to be wont”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: innsolent,inoslent,insloent,insoelnt,insolennt,insolentt,insoletn,insollent,insolnet,inssolent,isnolent,nisolent
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of insolent - 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.
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 "insolent"?
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Using “insolent”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-N-S-O-L-E-N-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɪn.sə.lənt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “insolvent” - see the side-by-side comparison. insolent vs insolvent
- 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.