severity
/sɪˈvɛɹɪti/
"severity" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“severity” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #11,114 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #11,114
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The state of being severe.
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 | severity |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /sɪˈvɛɹɪti/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #11,114 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “severity” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for severity is 8 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /sɪˈvɛɹɪti/. Corpus data places it at rank #11,114 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for severity, with forms such as "esverity", "seevrity", and "seveirty". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "seventy", "security", "severely", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English severity, from Middle French severite (modern French sévérité), from Latin sevēritās. By surface analysis, severe + -ity. The correct English form is severity, spelled S-E-V-E-R-I-T-Y.
Definition
- 1The state of being severe.
- 2The degree of something undesirable; badness or seriousness.
Etymology
From Middle English severity, from Middle French severite (modern French sévérité), from Latin sevēritās. By surface analysis, severe + -ity.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: esverity,seevrity,seveirty,severitty,severityy,severiyt,severrity,severtiy,sevreity,sevverity,sseverity,sveerity
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of severity - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "severity"?
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Using “severity”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-E-V-E-R-I-T-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /sɪˈvɛɹɪti/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “seventy” - see the side-by-side comparison. severity vs seventy
- 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.