moderate
/ˈmɒdəɹət/
"moderate" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“moderate” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #4,541 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #4,541
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Not excessive; acting in moderation
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 | moderate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈmɒdəɹət/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #4,541 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “moderate” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for moderate is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmɒdəɹət/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,541 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for moderate, with forms such as "mdoerate", "mmoderate", and "modderate". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "modulate", "moderator", "moderately", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English moderat(e) (“moderate, temperate”), borrowed from Latin moderātus, perfect active participle of moderor (“to regulate, to restrain, to moderate”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from moder-, modes-, a stem appearing also in modest… The correct English form is moderate, spelled M-O-D-E-R-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1Not excessive; acting in moderation
- 2more than mild, less than severe
- 3Mediocre
- 4Average priced; standard-deal
- 5Not violent or rigorous; temperate; mild; gentle.
- 6Having an intermediate position between liberal and conservative.
Etymology
From Middle English moderat(e) (“moderate, temperate”), borrowed from Latin moderātus, perfect active participle of moderor (“to regulate, to restrain, to moderate”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from moder-, modes-, a stem appearing also in modestus (“moderate, discreet, modest”), from modus (“a measure”); see mode and modest. Doublet of moderato. Displaced native Old English ġemetlīċ (“moderate”) and metegian (“to moderate”). Cognate with French modéré.
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: mdoerate,mmoderate,modderate,modearte,moderaet,moderatte,moderrate,modertae,modreate,moedrate,omderate
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of moderate - 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 “moderate”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-O-D-E-R-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmɒdəɹət/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “modulate” - see the side-by-side comparison. moderate vs modulate
- 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.