mild
/ˈmaɪld/
"mild" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“mild” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,982. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #5,982
- frequency rank, English
- 36,575
- “M” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Gentle and not easily angered.
Corpus desk
Index EN-mild · mild · English
mild · rank #5,982 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #5,982
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 36,575
- PHOTO-FINISH minimal
Nearest frequency peer: minimal (+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 “mild”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- lasting
lasting
94,022 corpus weight
- locally
locally
94,021 corpus weight
- mild
mild
94,019 corpus weight
- minimal
minimal
94,018 corpus weight
- mixing
mixing
94,017 corpus weight
- molecular
molecular
94,016 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “mild” 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 | mild |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈmaɪld/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #5,982 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “mild” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around mild (IPA /ˈmaɪld/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #5,982 among 36,575 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for mild, with forms such as "imld", "midl", and "mildd". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "ML", "mix", "min", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English milde, from Old English milde (“mild”), from Proto-Germanic *mildijaz (“mild”), from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to beat, pound, grind”). Cognate with Scots mild, myld (“mild”), Saterland Frisian milde (“mild”), West Frisian myld (“mil… The correct English form is mild, spelled M-I-L-D.
Definition
- 1Gentle and not easily angered.
- 2Of only moderate severity; not strict.
- 3Not overly felt or seriously intended.
- 4Not serious or dangerous.
- 5Moderately warm, especially less cold than expected.
- 6Acting gently and without causing harm.
- 7Not sharp or bitter; not strong in flavor.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how mild appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
He received a mild sentence.
I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed. And thus we came by a circuitous route to Mohair, the judge occupied by his own guilty thoughts, and I by others not less disturbing.
Etymology
From Middle English milde, from Old English milde (“mild”), from Proto-Germanic *mildijaz (“mild”), from Proto-Indo-European *melh₂- (“to beat, pound, grind”). Cognate with Scots mild, myld (“mild”), Saterland Frisian milde (“mild”), West Frisian myld (“mild”), Dutch mild (“mild”), Low German milde (“mild”), German mild (“mild”), Danish, Swedish and Norwegian Bokmål mild (“mild”), Icelandic mildur (“mild”), Latin mollis (“soft, gentle”), Lithuanian malonus (“pleasing, pleasant, kind”), Old Norse mildr.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- imld
- midl
- mildd
- milld
- mlid
- mmild
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of mild - 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.
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 "mild", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 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.