misplace

/mɪsˈpleɪs/

//mɪsˈpleɪs// verb

"misplace" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“misplace” is uncommon English (frequency #68,448 among 4,057 “M” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#68,448
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To put something somewhere and then forget its location; to mislay.

Corpus desk

Index EN-misplace · misplace · English

misplace · rank #68,448 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #68,448
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH mishmash

Nearest frequency peer: mishmash (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “misplace”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “misplace” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for misplace
PropertyValue
Headwordmisplace
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/mɪsˈpleɪs/
Letters8
Frequency rank#68,448
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “misplace” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).misplacefalls in this rarity band:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Rare peers in the same band: “mishmash” (#68,447), “Mizoram” (#68,449), “minting” (#68,445). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “misplace” is #68,448. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

misplace is uncommon English at frequency #68,448 among 4,057 “M” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /mɪsˈpleɪs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

misplace has no tracked misspelling variants, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From mis- + place. The correct English form is misplace, spelled M-I-S-P-L-A-C-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To put something somewhere and then forget its location; to mislay.
  2. 2
    To apply one's talents inappropriately.
  3. 3
    To put something in the wrong location.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. I might have misplaced my umbrella; do you know where it is?
  2. At least once a week a patient will come into Dr. Thomas Loepfe’s busy geriatric clinic in Lacrosse, Wisconsin, with a worry. She will tell him she’s been misplacing her glasses lately, or he’ll say he’s concerned about losing the car keys.

Etymology

From mis- + place.

Synonyms

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

How do you spell "misplace"?
"misplace" is spelled M-I-S-P-L-A-C-E. The IPA pronunciation is /mɪsˈpleɪs/.
What does "misplace" mean?
As a verb, "misplace" means: To put something somewhere and then forget its location; to mislay.
How do you pronounce "misplace"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "misplace" is /mɪsˈpleɪs/. 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 "misplace"?
From mis- + place. 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 "misplace", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list