perspire
/pəˈspaɪə(ɹ)/
"perspire" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“perspire” is uncommon English (frequency #95,263 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #95,263
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To emit (sweat or perspiration) through the skin's pores.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | perspire |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /pəˈspaɪə(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #95,263 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “perspire” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
perspire is uncommon English at frequency #95,263 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /pəˈspaɪə(ɹ)/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for perspire, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle French perspirer and its source Latin perspīrō (“to breathe everywhere, blow constantly”), from per (“through”) + spīrō (“to breathe”); see spirit. The correct English form is perspire, spelled P-E-R-S-P-I-R-E.
Definition
- 1To emit (sweat or perspiration) through the skin's pores.
- 2To be evacuated or excreted, or to exude, through the pores of the skin.
- 3To cause (someone) to sweat.
Etymology
Borrowed from Middle French perspirer and its source Latin perspīrō (“to breathe everywhere, blow constantly”), from per (“through”) + spīrō (“to breathe”); see spirit.
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 “perspire”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-E-R-S-P-I-R-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /pəˈspaɪə(ɹ)/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.