nasal
/ˈneɪ.zəl/
"nasal" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“nasal” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,227 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #15,227
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of or pertaining to the nose or to the nasion.
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 | nasal |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈneɪ.zəl/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #15,227 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “nasal” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for nasal is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈneɪ.zəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,227 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 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 nasal, with forms such as "ansal", "naasl", and "nasall". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "NSA", "Nash", "Neal", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English, from Medieval Latin nāsālis, from nāsus (“the nose”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix). Doublet of nasalis. The correct English form is nasal, spelled N-A-S-A-L.
Definition
- 1Of or pertaining to the nose or to the nasion.
- 2Having a sound imparted by means of the nose; and specifically, made by lowering the soft palate, in some cases with closure of the oral passage, the voice thus issuing (wholly or partially) through the nose, as in the consonants m, n, ng.
- 3Characterized by resonance in the nasal passage.
- 4Sharp, penetrating.
Etymology
From Middle English, from Medieval Latin nāsālis, from nāsus (“the nose”) + -ālis (“-al”, adjectival suffix). Doublet of nasalis.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ansal,naasl,nasall,nasla,nassal,nnasal,nsaal
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of nasal - 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 “nasal”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is N-A-S-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈneɪ.zəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “NSA” - see the side-by-side comparison. nasal vs NSA
- 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.