nerves
/nɝvz/
"nerves" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“nerves” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #6,939 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #6,939
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 7
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - plural of nerve
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 | nerves |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /nɝvz/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #6,939 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 7 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “nerves” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for nerves is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /nɝvz/. Corpus data places it at rank #6,939 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "plural of nerve".
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for nerves, with forms such as "enrves", "nerevs", and "nerrves". 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 7 confusable-pair relationships, "neve", "never", "Nevis", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
This entry carries no recorded etymology, so its spelling is best explained by sound-to-letter mapping rather than etymology. The correct English form is nerves, spelled N-E-R-V-E-S.
Definition
- 1plural of nerve
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: enrves,nerevs,nerrves,nervess,nervse,nervves,nevres,nnerves,nreves
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of nerves - 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 “nerves”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is N-E-R-V-E-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /nɝvz/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “neve” - see the side-by-side comparison. nerves vs neve
- 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.