most
/ˈməʊst/
"most" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“most” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #104 in English word frequency and used as a determiner.
- #104
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - superlative degree of much.
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 | most |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Determiner |
| IPA | /ˈməʊst/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #104 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “most” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for most is 4 letters long, classified as a determiner, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈməʊst/. Corpus data places it at rank #104 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for most, with forms such as "mmost", "mosst", and "mostt". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "MS", "MT", "Mrs", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *meh₂-der. Proto-Germanic *maiz Proto-Germanic *maistaz Proto-Germanic *maist Proto-West Germanic *maist Old English mǣst Middle English English most From Middle English most, moste, from Old English mǣst, māst, from Proto… The correct English form is most, spelled M-O-S-T.
Definition
- 1superlative degree of much.
- 2superlative degree of many: the comparatively largest number of (construed with the definite article)
- 3superlative degree of many: the majority of; more than half of (construed without the definite article)
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *meh₂-der. Proto-Germanic *maiz Proto-Germanic *maistaz Proto-Germanic *maist Proto-West Germanic *maist Old English mǣst Middle English English most From Middle English most, moste, from Old English mǣst, māst, from Proto-Germanic *maistaz, *maist. Cognate with Scots mast, maist (“most”), Saterland Frisian maast (“most”), West Frisian meast (“most”), Dutch meest (“most”), German meist (“most”), Danish and Swedish mest (“most”), Icelandic mestur (“most”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: mmost,mosst,mostt,mots,msot,omst
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of most - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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 “most”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-O-S-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈməʊst/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “MS” - see the side-by-side comparison. most vs MS
- 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.