polite
/pəˈlaɪt/
"polite" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“polite” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #8,074. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #8,074
- frequency rank, English
- 4,417
- “P” headwords
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Well-mannered, civilized.
Corpus desk
Index EN-polite · polite · English
polite · rank #8,074 · 8 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #8,074
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 8 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH pi
Nearest frequency peer: pi (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “polite”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- outline
outline
91,930 corpus weight
- pasta
pasta
91,929 corpus weight
- pi
pi
91,928 corpus weight
- polite
polite
91,927 corpus weight
- productions
productions
91,926 corpus weight
- quicker
quicker
91,924 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “polite” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | polite |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /pəˈlaɪt/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #8,074 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “polite” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 8 spelling variants around polite (IPA /pəˈlaɪt/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #8,074 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for polite, with forms such as "oplite", "ploite", and "poilte". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Porte", "posit", "Ponte", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Latin polītus (“polished”), past participle of poliō (“to polish, smooth”); see polish. The correct English form is polite, spelled P-O-L-I-T-E.
Definition
- 1Well-mannered, civilized.
- 2Smooth, polished, burnished.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how polite appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
It's not polite to use a mobile phone in a restaurant.
Try and be polite to Auntie Maria for once.
Etymology
From Latin polītus (“polished”), past participle of poliō (“to polish, smooth”); see polish.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- oplite
- ploite
- poilte
- poliet
- politte
- pollite
- poltie
- ppolite
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of polite - 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 "polite"?
What does "polite" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "polite"?
How do you pronounce "polite"?
What is the origin of the word "polite"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "polite", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "polite". Here's where to go from here.
- "polite" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "Porte". View pair
- 8 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #8,074 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "P" letter cohort. P–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.