perfume

Name: perfume, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/ˈpɜːfjuːm/

//ˈpɜːfjuːm// noun

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed September 3, 2026

The verdict

“perfume” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #10,422. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#10,422
frequency rank, English: 4,417
“P” headwords: 10
tracked misspellings: 3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A pleasant smell; the scent, odor, or odoriferous particles emitted from a sweet-smelling substance; a pleasant odor.

Corpus desk

Index EN-perfume · perfume · English

perfume · rank #10,422 · 10 variants · 3 confusables

FREQ-MID #10,422
LEN-LONG 7 letters
VOW-3 3 vowels
CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
VAR-MID 10 variants
BOOK-MID 4,417
PHOTO-FINISH pens

Nearest frequency peer: pens (-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.

PayPal

89,582
Pedro

89,581
pens

89,580
perfume

89,579
pitching

89,578
pleasing

89,577

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

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

perfume vs peruse

71% similar

perfume vs perfumed

88% similar

perfume vs perdue

71% similar

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

Key facts for perfume
Property	Value
Headword	perfume
Language	English
Part of speech	Noun
IPA	/ˈpɜːfjuːm/
Letters	7
Frequency rank	#10,422
Misspellings tracked	10
Confusable pairs	3
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “perfume”

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).perfumelands here:

#10,422

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “pens” (#10,421), “pitching” (#10,423), “Pedro” (#10,420). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “perfume” is #10,422. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around perfume (IPA /ˈpɜːfjuːm/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #10,422 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for perfume, with forms such as "eprfume", "pefrume", and "perffume". 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, "peruse", "perfumed", "perdue", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French parfum, perfum. Doublet of parfum. The correct English form is perfume, spelled P-E-R-F-U-M-E.

Definition

1
A pleasant smell; the scent, odor, or odoriferous particles emitted from a sweet-smelling substance; a pleasant odor.
2
A substance created to provide a pleasant smell or one which emits an agreeable odor.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

Breezes blowing from beds of iris quickened her breath with their perfume; she saw the tufted lilacs sway in the wind, and the streamers of mauve-tinted wistaria swinging, all a-glisten with golden bees; she saw a crimson cardinal winging through the foliage, and amorous tanagers flashing like scarlet flames athwart the pines.
Among the Turks, an exciting compound consists of olibanum, myrrh, camphor, musk, in pulverized form. The resultant perfume is said to affect the genitals.

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle French parfum, perfum. Doublet of parfum.

This word in other languages

aroma(Español)parfum(Français)Duft(Deutsch)fragrância(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

eprfume
pefrume
perffume
perfmue
perfuem
perfumme
perrfume
perufme
pperfume
prefume

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

Edit distance from "perfume"

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 "perfume"?

"perfume" is spelled P-E-R-F-U-M-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpɜːfjuːm/.

What does "perfume" mean?

As a noun, "perfume" means: A pleasant smell; the scent, odor, or odoriferous particles emitted from a sweet-smelling substance; a pleasant odor.

What words are commonly confused with "perfume"?

"perfume" is commonly confused with "peruse", "perfumed", "perdue". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.

How do you pronounce "perfume"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "perfume" is /ˈpɜːfjuːm/. 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 "perfume"?

Borrowed from Middle French parfum, perfum. Doublet of parfum. 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 "perfume", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

pyramid#10,428 sailors#10,440 migrant#10,402 marched#10,395

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

lateral10 variants textile10 variants glucose10 variants dreamed10 variants