intelligible
/ɪnˈtɛləd͡ʒəbəl/
"intelligible" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“intelligible” has 17 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #38,445. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #38,445
- frequency rank, English
- 2,140
- “I” headwords
- 17
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Capable of being understood; clear to the mind.
Corpus desk
Index EN-intelligible · intelligible · English
intelligible · rank #38,445 · 17 variants · 1 confusable
- FREQ-MID #38,445
- LEN-MEGA 12 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
- VAR-HIGH 17 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,140
- PHOTO-FINISH insemination
Nearest frequency peer: insemination (-3 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 “intelligible”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- infidel
infidel
61,563 corpus weight
- insemination
insemination
61,559 corpus weight
- intelligible
intelligible
61,556 corpus weight
- irrevocably
irrevocably
61,553 corpus weight
- Ivanov
Ivanov
61,551 corpus weight
- Jayden
Jayden
61,549 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “intelligible” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | intelligible |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ɪnˈtɛləd͡ʒəbəl/ |
| Letters | 12 |
| Frequency rank | #38,445 |
| Misspellings tracked | 17 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “intelligible” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 17 spelling variants around intelligible (IPA /ɪnˈtɛləd͡ʒəbəl/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #38,445 among 2,140 “I” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Capable of being understood; clear to the mind.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 17 likely wrong-spelling variants for intelligible, with forms such as "inetlligible", "inntelligible", and "inteligible". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "ineligible", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French intelligible, from Old French, from Latin intelligibilis. The correct English form is intelligible, spelled I-N-T-E-L-L-I-G-I-B-L-E.
Definition
- 1Capable of being understood; clear to the mind.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how intelligible appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Italian and Spanish are partially mutually intelligible languages.
That comment seemed to anger Ingraham, who called James’ view a “barely intelligible, not to mention ungrammatical take on President Trump.”
Etymology
From Middle French intelligible, from Old French, from Latin intelligibilis.
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- inetlligible
- inntelligible
- inteligible
- intelilgible
- intellgiible
- intelligable
- intelligbile
- intelliggible
- intelligibble
- intelligibel
- intelligiblle
- intelligilbe
- intelliigble
- intleligible
- inttelligible
- itnelligible
- nitelligible
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of intelligible - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "intelligible"?
What does "intelligible" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "intelligible"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "intelligible", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 12 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (17 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "intelligible". Here's where to go from here.
- This headword has one recorded confusable pair with "ineligible". View pair
- 17 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #38,445 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.