Phyllis
/ˈfɪlɪs/
"phyllis" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Phyllis” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #18,917. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #18,917
- 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 girl who killed herself for love and was turned into an almond tree.
Corpus desk
Index EN-phyllis · Phyllis · English
Phyllis · rank #18,917 · 10 variants · 3 confusables
- FREQ-MID #18,917
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
- VAR-MID 10 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH phased
Nearest frequency peer: phased (-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 “Phyllis”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- penetrating
penetrating
81,087 corpus weight
- persuasion
persuasion
81,086 corpus weight
- phased
phased
81,085 corpus weight
- Phyllis
Phyllis
81,084 corpus weight
- plaid
plaid
81,083 corpus weight
- playback
playback
81,082 corpus weight
What this shows “Phyllis” 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).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | Phyllis |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈfɪlɪs/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #18,917 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “Phyllis”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 10 spelling variants around Phyllis (IPA /ˈfɪlɪs/), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #18,917 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 Phyllis, with forms such as "hpyllis", "phhyllis", and "phlylis". 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, "Phillip", "phallic", "Phillips", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From the masculine Ancient Greek Φύλλις (Phúllis) or from the feminine Φυλλίς (Phullís). The correct English form is Phyllis, spelled P-H-Y-L-L-I-S.
Definition
- 1A girl who killed herself for love and was turned into an almond tree.
- 2A female given name from Ancient Greek derived from the mythological character.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how Phyllis appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Fair Phyllis I saw sitting all alone / Feeding her flock near to the mountain side
But the name to which the Pages were given of yore, / And the name of the Page I am speaking of, bore / As much likeness as Sukey to Eleonore, / or Betty to Phyllis or Lalage;
Etymology
From the masculine Ancient Greek Φύλλις (Phúllis) or from the feminine Φυλλίς (Phullís).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- hpyllis
- phhyllis
- phlylis
- phylils
- phylis
- phylliss
- phyllsi
- phyyllis
- pphyllis
- pyhllis
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Phyllis - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "Phyllis"?
What does "Phyllis" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "Phyllis"?
How do you pronounce "Phyllis"?
What is the origin of the word "Phyllis"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Phyllis", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).