ravel
/ˈɹævəl/
"ravel" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ravel” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #41,333. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #41,333
- frequency rank, English
- 3,094
- “R” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To entwine or tangle (something) confusedly; to entangle.
Corpus desk
Index EN-ravel · ravel · English
ravel · rank #41,333 · 7 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #41,333
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,094
- PHOTO-FINISH rationalizati…
Nearest frequency peer: rationalization (-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 “ravel”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- rakes
rakes
58,672 corpus weight
- ranching
ranching
58,671 corpus weight
- rationaliza…
rationalization
58,669 corpus weight
- ravel
ravel
58,668 corpus weight
- reachable
reachable
58,667 corpus weight
- rebelling
rebelling
58,663 corpus weight
What this shows “ravel” 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 | ravel |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈɹævəl/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #41,333 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “ravel”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around ravel (IPA /ˈɹævəl/), averb. Corpus frequency is #41,333 among 3,094 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for ravel, with forms such as "arvel", "raevl", and "ravell". 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, "rel", "reel", "Ravi", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: The verb is borrowed from Dutch ravelen, rafelen (“to tangle, become entangled; to fray; to unweave”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain. It has been suggested that the verb is originally derived from the noun, but the Oxford English Dictionary … The correct English form is ravel, spelled R-A-V-E-L.
Definition
- 1To entwine or tangle (something) confusedly; to entangle.
- 2Often followed by up: to form (something) out of discrete elements, like weaving fabric from threads; to knit.
- 3To unwind (a reel of thread, a skein of yarn, etc.); to pull apart (cloth, a seam, etc.); to fray, to unpick, to unravel; also, to pull out (a string of yarn, a thread, etc.) from a piece of fabric, or a skein or reel.
- 4To confuse or perplex (someone or something).
- 5Often followed by out: to undo the intricacies of (a problem, etc.); to clarify, to disentangle.
- 6To destroy or ruin (something), like unravelling fabric.
- 7In the APL programming language: to reshape (a variable) into a vector.
- 8Often followed by out: of a reel of thread or skein of yarn; or a thread on a reel or a string of yarn in a skein, etc.: to become untwisted or unwound.
- 9Often followed by out: of clothing, fabric, etc.: to become unwoven; to fray, to unravel.
- 10To become entangled or snarled.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how ravel appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
For the faith of very many men seems a duty so weak and indifferent, is so often untwisted by violence, or ravelled and entangled in weak discourses, or so false and fallacious by its mixture of interest, that though men usually put most confidences in the pretences of faith, yet no pretences are most unreasonable.
When paſſive Thouſands ſtretch beneath his Sword, / And freely die at his Imperial Word, / Thoſe wild, unhappy, ſelf-defending Few, / If not deſtroy'd in Time, will ravel all the Clew; […]
Etymology
The verb is borrowed from Dutch ravelen, rafelen (“to tangle, become entangled; to fray; to unweave”) [and other forms]; further etymology uncertain. It has been suggested that the verb is originally derived from the noun, but the Oxford English Dictionary regards this as “very uncertain”, and instead regards the noun as having derived from the verb (compare Dutch rafel, raffel (“frayed thread”)). Ravel is a contranym having both the senses of tangling (verb senses 1.1, 1.2, 1.4.1, and 2.3; noun sense 1) and untangling (verb senses 1.3, 1.4.2, 1.4.3, 2.1, and 2.2; noun sense 2). It would appear that the tangling senses predate the untangling ones (as in Dutch), but this is uncertain because the first published uses of both senses of the words occur around the same time.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- arvel
- raevl
- ravell
- ravle
- ravvel
- rravel
- rvael
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ravel - 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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ravel", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).