right
/ˈɹaɪt/
"right" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“right” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #115 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #115
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 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: →
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
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for right is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɹaɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #115 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 15 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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.
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.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "right"?
What does "right" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "right"?
How do you pronounce "right"?
What is the origin of the word "right"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “right”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-I-G-H-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɹaɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “rit” - see the side-by-side comparison. right vs rit
- 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.