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invalid

/ɪnˈvæl.ɪd/adjective, noun, verb

invalid is spelled I-N-V-A-L-I-D: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 6.0 times per million words in written English, the 9,878th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, invalid means “Not valid; not true, correct, acceptable, or appropriate” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in invalid?

Letters7: I-N-V-A-L-I-D
Syllables3 (from its American pronunciation)
In writing6.0 times per million words; the 9,878th most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is invalid?

Invalid appears 6.0 times per million words in written English, the 9,878th most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce invalid?

  • /ɪnˈvæl.ɪd/

As a noun (“Any person with a disability or illness”): /ˈɪn.və.lɪd/, /ˈɪn.vəˌliːd/.

Invalid has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-invalid-adj.ogg, En-us-invalid-noun.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of invalid

  • more invalid comparative
  • most invalid superlative
  • invalids plural, present, singular, he/she/it
  • invaliding participle, present
  • invalided participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does invalid mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

adjective

  1. 1

    Not valid; not true, correct, acceptable, or appropriate.

    Your argument is invalid because it uses circular reasoning.

  2. 2

    Suffering from disability or illness.

  3. 3

    Intended for use by an invalid.

verb

  1. 1

    UKTo exempt from (often military) duty because of injury or ill health.

    He was invalided home after the car crash.

  2. 2

    To make invalid or affect with disease.

noun

  1. 1

    datedoffensiveAny person with a disability or illness.

  2. 2

    datedoffensiveA person who is confined to home or bed because of illness, disability or injury; one who is too sick or weak to care for themselves.

  3. 3

    archaicA disabled member of the armed forces; one unfit for active duty due to injury.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Invalid in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchinvalide (not valid)
Germanungültig (not valid), Invalide, Invalidin (person with a handicap or disability), Bettlägriger, Schwerkranker (sick person)
Portugueseinválido (not valid), inválida (person with a handicap or disability)
Spanishinválido (not valid), inválida (person with a handicap or disability)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does invalid come from?

From in- + valid.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after invalid