mellow
/ˈmɛləʊ/
"mellow" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“mellow” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #19,137. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #19,137
- frequency rank, English
- 36,575
- “M” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 13
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Soft or tender by reason of ripeness; having a tender pulp.
Corpus desk
Index EN-mellow · mellow · English
mellow · rank #19,137 · 7 variants · 13 confusables
- FREQ-MID #19,137
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 13 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 36,575
- PHOTO-FINISH meek
Nearest frequency peer: meek (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “mellow”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- measurable
measurable
80,867 corpus weight
- Medina
Medina
80,866 corpus weight
- meek
meek
80,865 corpus weight
- mellow
mellow
80,864 corpus weight
- melon
melon
80,863 corpus weight
- miscarriage
miscarriage
80,861 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “mellow” 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 | mellow |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈmɛləʊ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #19,137 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 13 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “mellow” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around mellow (IPA /ˈmɛləʊ/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #19,137 among 36,575 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 11 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for mellow, with forms such as "emllow", "melloww", and "mellwo". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 13 confusable-pair relationships, "meow", "melo", "melon", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: The adjective is derived from Late Middle English melowe, melwe (“ripe, mellow; juicy; sweet”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain, possibly: * from an attributive use of melow, melowe, melewe, mele (“meal from ground grain or legumes; flour; ker… The correct English form is mellow, spelled M-E-L-L-O-W.
Definition
- 1Soft or tender by reason of ripeness; having a tender pulp.
- 2Matured and smooth, and not acidic, harsh, or sharp.
- 3Soft and easily penetrated or worked; not hard or rigid; loamy.
- 4Mature; of crops: ready to be harvested; ripe.
- 5Fruitful and warm.
- 6Not coarse, brash, harsh, or rough; delicate, rich, soft, subdued.
- 7Senses relating to a person or their qualities.
- 8Senses relating to a person or their qualities.
- 9Senses relating to a person or their qualities.
- 10Senses relating to a person or their qualities.
- 11Pleasing in some way; excellent, fantastic, great.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how mellow appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
a mellow apple
How can thoſe men call home the loſt ſheepe that are gone aſtray, comming into the Miniſtery before their wits be ſtaid. This greene fruite, béeing gathered before it be ripe, is rotten before it be mellow, and infected with Sciſmes before they haue learned to bridle their affections, […]
Etymology
The adjective is derived from Late Middle English melowe, melwe (“ripe, mellow; juicy; sweet”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain, possibly: * from an attributive use of melow, melowe, melewe, mele (“meal from ground grain or legumes; flour; kernel of barley or lentils”) [and other forms], from Old English melo, melu (“meal (edible part of a grain or pulse); flour”), from Proto-Germanic *melwą (“ground corn; meal; flour”), from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to crush; to grind”); or * a variant of Middle English merow, merowe, meruw (“soft, tender; of a person: frail; of love: unstable, variable”) [and other forms], from Old English meru, mearu (“soft, tender; delicate, frail; callow”) [and other forms], from Proto-Germanic *marwaz (“soft, mellow; brittle, delicate”), from Proto-Indo-European *mer(w)- (“to rub; to pack”). The noun and verb are both derived from the adjective. The etymology of noun sense 3 (“close friend; lover”) is unknown, but may also be derived from the adjective. Cognates * Dutch murw (“tender”) * German mürbe (“soft, tender”) * German Low German möör (“tender”) * Old Norse mör (“tender; aching”) (Icelandic meyr (“tender”)) * Saterland Frisian muur (“tender”) * West Frisian murf (“tender”)
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- emllow
- melloww
- mellwo
- melolw
- melow
- mlelow
- mmellow
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of mellow - 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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "mellow", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).
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.