offender
/əˈfen.də(ɹ)/
"offender" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“offender” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #11,257 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #11,257
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - One who gives or causes offense, or does something wrong.
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 | offender |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /əˈfen.də(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #11,257 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “offender” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for offender is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /əˈfen.də(ɹ)/. Corpus data places it at rank #11,257 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for offender, with forms such as "fofender", "ofefnder", and "ofender". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "offense", "offend", "offended", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English offendour, offender, offendir, equivalent to offend + -er. The correct English form is offender, spelled O-F-F-E-N-D-E-R.
Definition
- 1One who gives or causes offense, or does something wrong.
- 2A person who commits an offense against the law, a lawbreaker.
Etymology
From Middle English offendour, offender, offendir, equivalent to offend + -er.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: fofender,ofefnder,ofender,offedner,offendder,offenderr,offendre,offenedr,offennder,offneder
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of offender - 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 “offender”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is O-F-F-E-N-D-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /əˈfen.də(ɹ)/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “offense” - see the side-by-side comparison. offender vs offense
- 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.