ravish

/ˈɹæ.vɪʃ/

//ˈɹæ.vɪʃ// verb

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

"ravish" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“ravish” is uncommon English (frequency #75,339 among 3,094 “R” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#75,339
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To seize and carry away by violence; to snatch by force.

Corpus desk

Index EN-ravish · ravish · English

ravish · rank #75,339 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #75,339
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH Raph

Nearest frequency peer: Raph (-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.

Long-tail ranks near “ravish”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “ravish” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for ravish
PropertyValue
Headwordravish
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈɹæ.vɪʃ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#75,339
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “ravish” in English

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).ravishfalls in this rarity band:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Rare peers in the same band: “Raph” (#75,338), “readme” (#75,341), “realest” (#75,342). Among 3,094 “R” headwords, “ravish” is #75,339. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

ravish is uncommon English at frequency #75,339 among 3,094 “R” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈɹæ.vɪʃ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.

No misspelling variants are generated for ravish in our index, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. No close-neighbour confusable shows up for this headword in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English ravyschen, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ravis-, present participle stem of ravir (“to seize; to take away hastily”), from Vulgar Latin *rapire, from Latin rapere. See also rape. The correct English form is ravish, spelled R-A-V-I-S-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    To seize and carry away by violence; to snatch by force.
  2. 2
    To transport with joy or delight; to delight to ecstasy.
  3. 3
    To rape.
  4. 4
    To have vigorous sexual intercourse with.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Again, he refers to "such ministers as discharge their ministry amiss; ravishing away the goods of the widows and fatherless; and serve themselves, not others out of those things which they have received.
  2. The French Government had not taken regular possession of it when the war with England broke out; and Bonaparte hastened to sell that Province to the Americans, who had already cast their eyes upon it, with the view both of preventing the English from ravishing it from him, and of procuring funds to carry on the war.

Etymology

From Middle English ravyschen, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ravis-, present participle stem of ravir (“to seize; to take away hastily”), from Vulgar Latin *rapire, from Latin rapere. See also rape.

Synonyms

abripe

This word in other languages

ravir(Français)entführen(Deutsch)raptar(Português)

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 "ravish"?
"ravish" is spelled R-A-V-I-S-H. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈɹæ.vɪʃ/.
What does "ravish" mean?
As a verb, "ravish" means: To seize and carry away by violence; to snatch by force.
How do you pronounce "ravish"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "ravish" is /ˈɹæ.vɪʃ/. 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 "ravish"?
From Middle English ravyschen, from Anglo-Norman, from Old French ravis-, present participle stem of ravir (“to seize; to take away hastily”), from Vulgar Latin *rapire, from Latin rapere. See also rape. 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 "ravish", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

readme#75,341quadra#75,327punked#75,323riddim#75,360

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list