reform
/ˌɹiːˈfɔɹm/
"reform" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“reform” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #2,854 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #2,854
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 11
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The change of something that is defective, broken, inefficient or otherwise negative, in order to correct or improve it
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 | reform |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˌɹiːˈfɔɹm/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #2,854 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 11 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “reform” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for reform is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˌɹiːˈfɔɹm/. Corpus data places it at rank #2,854 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "The change of something that is defective, broken, inefficient or otherwise negative, in order to correct or improve it".
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for reform, with forms such as "erform", "refform", and "refomr". 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 11 confusable-pair relationships, "report", "resort", "retort", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English reformen, from Old French reformer, from Latin reformo, reformare. As a noun since 1660s, from French réforme. The correct English form is reform, spelled R-E-F-O-R-M.
Definition
- 1The change of something that is defective, broken, inefficient or otherwise negative, in order to correct or improve it
Etymology
From Middle English reformen, from Old French reformer, from Latin reformo, reformare. As a noun since 1660s, from French réforme.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: erform,refform,refomr,reformm,reforrm,refrom,reofrm,rfeorm,rreform
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of reform - 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
How do you spell "reform"?
What does "reform" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "reform"?
How do you pronounce "reform"?
What is the origin of the word "reform"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “reform”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-E-F-O-R-M - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˌɹiːˈfɔɹm/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “report” - see the side-by-side comparison. reform vs report
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.