phase
/feɪz/
"phase" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“phase” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,306 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #2,306
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A distinguishable part of a sequence or cycle occurring over time.
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 | phase |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /feɪz/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #2,306 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “phase” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for phase is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /feɪz/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,306 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 12 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for phase, with forms such as "hpase", "pahse", and "phaes". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pose", "phat", "place", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From New Latin phasis, from Ancient Greek φάσις (phásis, “an appearance”), from φαίνω (phaínō, “to cause to appear”); compare phantasm and see face. The correct English form is phase, spelled P-H-A-S-E.
Definition
- 1A distinguishable part of a sequence or cycle occurring over time.
- 2That which is exhibited to the eye; the appearance which anything manifests, especially any one among different and varying appearances of the same object.
- 3Any appearance or aspect of an object of mental apprehension or view.
- 4A particular appearance or state in a regularly recurring cycle of changes with respect to quantity of illumination or form, or the absence, of a body's illuminated disk. Illustrated in Wikipedia's article Lunar phase.
- 5Any one point or portion in a recurring series of changes, as in the changes of motion of one of the particles constituting a wave or vibration; one portion of a series of such changes, in distinction from a contrasted portion, as the portion on one side of a position of equilibrium, in contrast with that on the opposite side.
- 6A component in a material system that is distinguished by chemical composition and/or physical state (solid, liquid or gas) and/or crystal structure. It is delineated from an adjoining phase by an abrupt change in one or more of those conditions.
- 7In certain organisms, one of two or more colour variations characteristic of the species, but independent of the ordinary seasonal and sexual differences, and often also of age.
- 8The period of play between consecutive breakdowns.
- 9A haplotype.
- 10The counterclockwise angle from the positive half of the real number line to the vector pointing to a complex number on an Argand diagram of the complex plane, which has the positive real line pointing right and the positive imaginary number line pointing up.
- 11A distortion caused by a difference in the speed of propagation for different frequencies
- 12In a polyphase electrical power system, one of the power-carrying conductors, or the alternating current carried by it.
Etymology
From New Latin phasis, from Ancient Greek φάσις (phásis, “an appearance”), from φαίνω (phaínō, “to cause to appear”); compare phantasm and see face.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hpase,pahse,phaes,phasse,phhase,phsae,pphase
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of phase - 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 “phase”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-H-A-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /feɪz/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “pose” - see the side-by-side comparison. phase vs pose
- 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.