melee

/ˈmɛˌleɪ/

//ˈmɛˌleɪ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"melee" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“melee” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #21,859. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#21,859
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A battle fought at close range, (especially) one not involving ranged weapons; hand-to-hand combat; brawling.

Corpus desk

Index EN-melee · melee · English

melee · rank #21,859 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #21,859
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH medalist

Nearest frequency peer: medalist (-1 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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “melee”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “melee” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

melee vs mile
60% similar
melee vs mere
60% similar
melee vs melt
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for melee
PropertyValue
Headwordmelee
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmɛˌleɪ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#21,859
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “melee”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).meleelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “medalist” (#21,858), “melo” (#21,860), “McNamara” (#21,857). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “melee” is #21,859. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around melee (IPA /ˈmɛˌleɪ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #21,859 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for melee, with forms such as "emlee", "meele", and "mele". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "mile", "mere", "melt", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from French mêlée, from Old French meslee, feminine past participle of mesler (“to mix”), derived from Latin misceō (“mix”). Doublet of medley. The correct English form is melee, spelled M-E-L-E-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A battle fought at close range, (especially) one not involving ranged weapons; hand-to-hand combat; brawling.
  2. 2
    A loud, confused or tumultuous fight, argument or scrap.
  3. 3
    Any confused, disorganised, disordered or chaotic situation.
  4. 4
    Lively contention or debate, skirmish.
  5. 5
    A cavalry exercise in which two groups of riders try to cut paper plumes off the helmets of their opponents, the contest continuing until no member of one group retains his plume.
  6. 6
    Small cut and polished gemstones sold in lots.
  7. 7
    The video game Super Smash Bros. Melee.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how melee appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Honestly, a lot of what this episode did right had more to do with the scenes that surrounded the enormous melee than those hyper-edited clashes of swords.
  2. The attack also afforded Helena to a front-seat view of literal air-to-air melee combat, as one Wildcat pilot of the Cactus Air Force, who was swooping in to help break up the attack, found himself out of machine-gun ammo; instead, he dropped his landing gear, positioned himself above the nearest bomber, and begun beating it to death, in midair, using his…

Etymology

Borrowed from French mêlée, from Old French meslee, feminine past participle of mesler (“to mix”), derived from Latin misceō (“mix”). Doublet of medley.

This word in other languages

Handgemenge(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • emlee
  • meele
  • mele
  • mellee
  • mleee
  • mmelee

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of melee - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.

emlee2meele2mele1mellee1mleee2mmelee1
Edit distance from "melee"

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 "melee"?
"melee" is spelled M-E-L-E-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɛˌleɪ/.
What does "melee" mean?
As a noun, "melee" means: A battle fought at close range, (especially) one not involving ranged weapons; hand-to-hand combat; brawling.
What words are commonly confused with "melee"?
"melee" is commonly confused with "mile", "mere", "melt". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "melee"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "melee" is /ˈmɛˌleɪ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "melee"?
Borrowed from French mêlée, from Old French meslee, feminine past participle of mesler (“to mix”), derived from Latin misceō (“mix”). Doublet of medley. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "melee", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

merch#21,865kiddo#21,838nudge#21,883payer#21,895

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

incl6 variantsgiddy6 variantstint6 variantsVlad6 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list