official

/əˈfɪʃ(ə)l/

//əˈfɪʃ(ə)l// adj

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"official" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“official” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #749. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#749
frequency rank, English
1,431
“O” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of or about an office or public trust.

Corpus desk

Index EN-official · official · English

official · rank #749 · 9 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #749
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,431
  • PHOTO-FINISH lives

Nearest frequency peer: lives (-1 rank slots)

Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern

Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “official”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “official” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

official vs officials
89% similar
official vs officiate
78% similar
official vs officially
80% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for official
PropertyValue
Headwordofficial
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/əˈfɪʃ(ə)l/
Letters8
Frequency rank#749
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “official”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).officiallands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “lives” (#748), “OK” (#750), “follow” (#747). Among 1,431 “O” headwords, “official” is #749. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around official (IPA /əˈfɪʃ(ə)l/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #749 among 1,431 “O” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for official, with forms such as "foficial", "offciial", and "officail". 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, "officials", "officiate", "officially", 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 official, from Old French official, from Latin officiālis, from Latin officium (“duty, service”), by surface analysis, office + -ial. The correct English form is official, spelled O-F-F-I-C-I-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of or about an office or public trust.
  2. 2
    Derived from the proper office or officer, or the appropriate authority; made or communicated by authority
  3. 3
    Approved by authority; authorized.
  4. 4
    Approved by authority; authorized.
  5. 5
    Sanctioned by the pharmacopoeia; appointed to be used in medicine; officinal.
  6. 6
    Discharging an office or function.
  7. 7
    Relating to an office, especially a subordinate executive officer or attendant.
  8. 8
    Relating to an ecclesiastical judge appointed by a bishop, chapter, archdeacon, etc., with charge of the spiritual jurisdiction.
  9. 9
    True, real, beyond doubt.
  10. 10
    Listed in a national pharmacopeia.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how official appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. official duties
  2. an official statement or report

Etymology

From Middle English official, from Old French official, from Latin officiālis, from Latin officium (“duty, service”), by surface analysis, office + -ial.

Synonyms

approvedrecognizedsanctioneddecreed

Antonyms

unofficial

This word in other languages

oficial(Español)officiel(Français)offiziell(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • foficial
  • offciial
  • officail
  • officcial
  • officiall
  • officila
  • offiical
  • oficial
  • ofifcial

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of official - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

foficial2offciial2officail2officcial1officiall1officila2offiical2oficial1
Edit distance from "official"

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

How do you spell "official"?
"official" is spelled O-F-F-I-C-I-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is /əˈfɪʃ(ə)l/.
What does "official" mean?
As an adjective, "official" means: Of or about an office or public trust.
What words are commonly confused with "official"?
"official" is commonly confused with "officials", "officiate", "officially". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "official"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "official" is /əˈfɪʃ(ə)l/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "official"?
From Middle English official, from Old French official, from Latin officiālis, from Latin officium (“duty, service”), by surface analysis, office + -ial. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "official", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

evidence#746whatever#759director#732received#720

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

ground9 variantsgiving9 variantsworked9 variantslonger9 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list