mellow
/ˈmɛləʊ/
"mellow" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“mellow” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #19,137 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #19,137
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 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.
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
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for mellow is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmɛləʊ/. Corpus data places it at rank #19,137 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 11 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “mellow”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-E-L-L-O-W - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmɛləʊ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “meow” - see the side-by-side comparison. mellow vs meow
- 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.