irradiate
/ɪˈɹeɪdɪət/
"irradiate" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“irradiate” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as an adjective - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 9
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Made brilliant or bright; irradiated, illuminated.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | irradiate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ɪˈɹeɪdɪət/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “irradiate” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for irradiate is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɪˈɹeɪdɪət/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
irradiate doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English irradiate (“illuminated, shining”), borrowed from Medieval Latin irradiātus, perfect passive participle of irradiō, from ir- (“against; into; on, upon”) + radiō (“to cause to radiate, irradiate; to emit beams, radiate”), from radius (“ra… The correct English form is irradiate, spelled I-R-R-A-D-I-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1Made brilliant or bright; irradiated, illuminated.
- 2Made splendid or wonderful.
Etymology
From Middle English irradiate (“illuminated, shining”), borrowed from Medieval Latin irradiātus, perfect passive participle of irradiō, from ir- (“against; into; on, upon”) + radiō (“to cause to radiate, irradiate; to emit beams, radiate”), from radius (“ray of light; rod, staff; spoke of a wheel”) + -ō (first conjugation verb-forming suffix) (further etymology uncertain; possibly ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *reh₁t- (“beam; pole; post”)). The adjective is attested earlier than the verb. The English word is analysable as in- (“against; into; on, upon”) + radiate.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “irradiate”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is I-R-R-A-D-I-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɪˈɹeɪdɪət/ (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.