labile
/ˈleɪbaɪl/
"labile" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“labile” is uncommon English (frequency #88,525 among 2,297 “L” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #88,525
- frequency rank, English
- 2,297
- “L” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Liable to slip, err, fall, or apostatize.
Corpus desk
Index EN-labile · labile · English
labile · rank #88,525 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #88,525
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,297
- PHOTO-FINISH lari
Nearest frequency peer: lari (+2 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.
Long-tail ranks near “labile”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Kozhikode
Kozhikode
11,481 corpus weight
- Kozlov
Kozlov
11,480 corpus weight
- labile
labile
11,476 corpus weight
- lari
lari
11,474 corpus weight
- leafless
leafless
11,473 corpus weight
- leatherback
leatherback
11,472 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “labile” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | labile |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈleɪbaɪl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #88,525 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “labile” in English
Rare enough to double-check
labile is uncommon English at frequency #88,525 among 2,297 “L” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈleɪbaɪl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for labile, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin lābilis (“apt to slip, transient”), from lābor, lābī (“slip; glide, flow”). The correct English form is labile, spelled L-A-B-I-L-E.
Definition
- 1Liable to slip, err, fall, or apostatize.
- 2Apt or likely to change.
- 3Kinetically unstable; rapidly cleaved (and possibly reformed).
- 4Able to change valency without changing its form; especially, able to be used both transitively and intransitively without changing its form.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how labile appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Pythagoras [said] that each thing or matter was ever gliding and labile.
Certain drugs can be conjugated to polymer molecules with a linkage that is labile at low pH to effect controlled release in a cellular endosome.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin lābilis (“apt to slip, transient”), from lābor, lābī (“slip; glide, flow”).
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "labile", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).