ornate

/ɔɹˈneɪt/

//ɔɹˈneɪt// adj

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

"ornate" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“ornate” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #22,759. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#22,759
frequency rank, English
1,431
“O” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Elaborately ornamented, often to excess.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ornate · ornate · English

ornate · rank #22,759 · 8 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #22,759
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,431
  • PHOTO-FINISH palpable

Nearest frequency peer: palpable (+2 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 “ornate”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “ornate” 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).

ornate vs ovate
67% similar
ornate vs opiate
67% similar
ornate vs ordinate
75% similar

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

Key facts for ornate
PropertyValue
Headwordornate
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ɔɹˈneɪt/
Letters6
Frequency rank#22,759
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “ornate”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).ornatelands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “palpable” (#22,761), “Ogden” (#22,756), “paramedic” (#22,762). Among 1,431 “O” headwords, “ornate” is #22,759. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around ornate (IPA /ɔɹˈneɪt/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #22,759 among 1,431 “O” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for ornate, with forms such as "onrate", "orante", and "ornaet". 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, "ovate", "opiate", "ordinate", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Learned borrowing from Latin ōrnātus, perfect passive participle of ōrnō (“to equip, adorn”), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix). Doublet of orné. The correct English form is ornate, spelled O-R-N-A-T-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Elaborately ornamented, often to excess.
  2. 2
    Flashy, flowery or showy.
  3. 3
    Finely finished, as a style of composition.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. The house of Ruthven was a small but ultra-modern limestone affair, between Madison and Fifth ;[…]. As a matter of fact its narrow ornate façade presented not a single quiet space that the eyes might rest on after a tiring attempt to follow and codify the arabesques, foliations, and intricate vermiculations of what some disrespectfully dubbed as “near-ais…
  2. a graceful and ornate rhetoric

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Latin ōrnātus, perfect passive participle of ōrnō (“to equip, adorn”), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix). Doublet of orné.

This word in other languages

kunstvoll(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • onrate
  • orante
  • ornaet
  • ornatte
  • ornnate
  • orntae
  • orrnate
  • ronate

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ornate - 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.

onrate2orante2ornaet2ornatte1ornnate1orntae2orrnate1ronate2
Edit distance from "ornate"

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 "ornate"?
"ornate" is spelled O-R-N-A-T-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ɔɹˈneɪt/.
What does "ornate" mean?
As an adjective, "ornate" means: Elaborately ornamented, often to excess.
What words are commonly confused with "ornate"?
"ornate" is commonly confused with "ovate", "opiate", "ordinate". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "ornate"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ornate" is /ɔɹˈneɪt/. 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 "ornate"?
Learned borrowing from Latin ōrnātus, perfect passive participle of ōrnō (“to equip, adorn”), see -ate (adjective-forming suffix). Doublet of orné. 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 "ornate", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

oculus#22,755nuclei#22,751Milner#22,741Marcia#22,738

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

plump8 variantsrecoil8 variantslumps8 variantsrejoin8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list