right
/ˈɹaɪt/
"right" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“right” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #115. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #115
- frequency rank, English
- 21,470
- “R” headwords
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 16
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Designating the side of the body which is positioned to the east if one is facing north, the side on which the heart is not located in most humans. This arrow points to the reader's right: →
Corpus desk
Index EN-right · right · English
right · rank #115 · 8 variants · 16 confusables
- FREQ-CORE #115
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 16 pairs
- VAR-MID 8 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 21,470
- PHOTO-FINISH did
Nearest frequency peer: did (-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 “right”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- need
need
99,889 corpus weight
- really
really
99,888 corpus weight
- did
did
99,887 corpus weight
- right
right
99,886 corpus weight
- work
work
99,885 corpus weight
- year
year
99,884 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “right” 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 | right |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈɹaɪt/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #115 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 16 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “right” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 8 spelling variants around right (IPA /ˈɹaɪt/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #115 among 21,470 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 15 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for right, with forms such as "irght", "rgiht", and "rigght". 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 16 confusable-pair relationships, "rit", "riot", "rigs", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English right, from Old English riht, reht (“right,” also the word for “straight” and “direct”), from Proto-West Germanic *reht, from Proto-Germanic *rehtaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵtós (“having moved in a straight line”), from *h₃reǵ- (“… The correct English form is right, spelled R-I-G-H-T.
Definition
- 1Designating the side of the body which is positioned to the east if one is facing north, the side on which the heart is not located in most humans. This arrow points to the reader's right: →
- 2Clockwise, particularly when describing a change in direction or orientation.
- 3Complying with justice, correctness, or reason; correct, just, true. See also the interjection senses below.
- 4Appropriate, perfectly suitable; fit for purpose.
- 5Healthy, sane, competent.
- 6Real; veritable (used emphatically).
- 7Of an angle, measuring 90 degrees, or one quarter of a complete rotation; the angle between two perpendicular lines.
- 8Of a geometric figure, incorporating a right angle between edges, faces, axes, etc.
- 9Designating the bank of a river (etc.) on one's right when facing downstream (i.e. facing forward while floating with the current); that is, the south bank of a river that flows eastward. If this arrow: ⥴ shows the direction of the current, the tilde is on the right side of the river.
- 10Designed to be placed or worn outward.
- 11Pertaining to the political right; conservative.
- 12All right; not requiring assistance.
- 13Most favourable or convenient; fortunate.
- 14Straight, not bent.
- 15Of or relating to the right whale.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how right appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Near-synonym: starboard
After the accident, her right leg was slightly shorter than her left.
Etymology
From Middle English right, from Old English riht, reht (“right,” also the word for “straight” and “direct”), from Proto-West Germanic *reht, from Proto-Germanic *rehtaz, from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵtós (“having moved in a straight line”), from *h₃reǵ- (“to straighten, direct”). The Germanic adjective which has been used also as a noun since the common Germanic period. Cognates Cognate with West Frisian rjocht (“right”), Dutch recht (“straight”), German recht and Recht (“right”), Luxembourgish Recht, riets (“right”), riicht (“straight”), Yiddish רעכט (rekht, “right”), Danish ret (“right”), Faroese rættur (“right”), Icelandic réttur (“right”), Norwegian Bokmål, Norwegian Nynorsk rett (“right”), Swedish rätt, rät (“right”). The Indo-European root is also the source of Ancient Greek ὀρεκτός (orektós) and Latin rēctus; Albanian drejt was borrowed from Latin.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- irght
- rgiht
- rigght
- righht
- rightt
- rigth
- rihgt
- rright
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of right - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "right", 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 (8 here; floor ≥5).
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.