puberty

/ˈpjuː.bə.ti/

//ˈpjuː.bə.ti// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"puberty" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“puberty” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #15,684. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#15,684
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A developmental phase brought about by the action of hormones as part of the maturing process. For humans, there are three in total.

Corpus desk

Index EN-puberty · puberty · English

puberty · rank #15,684 · 11 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-MID #15,684
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH PTS

Nearest frequency peer: PTS (-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 “puberty”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

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

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

puberty vs poverty
71% similar

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

Key facts for puberty
PropertyValue
Headwordpuberty
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈpjuː.bə.ti/
Letters7
Frequency rank#15,684
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “puberty”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).pubertylands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “PTS” (#15,683), “provoking” (#15,682), “Ramos” (#15,687). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “puberty” is #15,684. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around puberty (IPA /ˈpjuː.bə.ti/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #15,684 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for puberty, with forms such as "pbuerty", "ppuberty", and "pubberty". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "poverty", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English puberte, from Old French puberté, from Latin pūbertās (“the age of maturity, manhood”). The correct English form is puberty, spelled P-U-B-E-R-T-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A developmental phase brought about by the action of hormones as part of the maturing process. For humans, there are three in total.
  2. 2
    A developmental phase brought about by the action of hormones as part of the maturing process. For humans, there are three in total.
  3. 3
    The age at which a person is first capable of sexual reproduction.
  4. 4
    The period when a plant begins to flower.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Girls undergoing puberty show an increase in the total output of cortisol, which is related to stress, while boys show little increase.
  2. As shown in Figure 14.4 of the textbook, children reach puberty at different ages in different countries; within those nations, children living in cities tend to reach puberty earlier than those living in rural areas.

Etymology

From Middle English puberte, from Old French puberté, from Latin pūbertās (“the age of maturity, manhood”).

This word in other languages

pubertad(Español)puberté(Français)Reifezeit(Deutsch)puberdade(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • pbuerty
  • ppuberty
  • pubberty
  • puberrty
  • pubertty
  • pubertyy
  • puberyt
  • pubetry
  • pubrety
  • puebrty
  • upberty

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of puberty - 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.

pbuerty2ppuberty1pubberty1puberrty1pubertty1pubertyy1puberyt2pubetry2
Edit distance from "puberty"

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 "puberty"?
"puberty" is spelled P-U-B-E-R-T-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpjuː.bə.ti/.
What does "puberty" mean?
As a noun, "puberty" means: A developmental phase brought about by the action of hormones as part of the maturing process. For humans, there are three in total.
What words are commonly confused with "puberty"?
"puberty" is commonly confused with "poverty". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "puberty"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "puberty" is /ˈpjuː.bə.ti/. 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 "puberty"?
From Middle English puberte, from Old French puberté, from Latin pūbertās (“the age of maturity, manhood”). 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 "puberty", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

rethink#15,692rewrite#15,695onstage#15,670sobbing#15,704

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

reviewer11 variantssnapping11 variantsspitting11 variantsstarved11 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list