specific

/spɪˈsɪf.ɪk/

//spɪˈsɪf.ɪk// adj

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

"specific" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“specific” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,005. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,005
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Explicit or definite.

Corpus desk

Index EN-specific · specific · English

specific · rank #1,005 · 12 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,005
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH speak

Nearest frequency peer: speak (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “specific”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “specific” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

specific vs specify
75% similar
specific vs specified
78% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for specific
PropertyValue
Headwordspecific
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/spɪˈsɪf.ɪk/
Letters8
Frequency rank#1,005
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “specific”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).specificlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “speak” (#1,004), “standard” (#1,006), “shall” (#1,003). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “specific” is #1,005. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around specific (IPA /spɪˈsɪf.ɪk/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #1,005 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 10 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for specific, with forms such as "psecific", "sepcific", and "spceific". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "specify", "specified", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Old French specifique, from Late Latin specificus (“specific, particular”), from Latin speciēs (“kind”) + -ific. The correct English form is specific, spelled S-P-E-C-I-F-I-C.

Definition

  1. 1
    Explicit or definite.
  2. 2
    Pertaining to a species, as a taxon or taxa at the rank of species.
  3. 3
    Special, distinctive or unique.
  4. 4
    intended for, or applying to, a particular thing.
  5. 5
    Serving to identify a particular thing (often a disease or condition), with little risk of mistaking something else for it.
  6. 6
    Being a remedy for a particular disease on a deeper level, rather than just masking the symptoms
  7. 7
    Limited to a particular antibody or antigen.
  8. 8
    Of a value divided by mass (e.g. specific orbital energy).
  9. 9
    Similarly referring to a value divided by any measure which acts to standardize it (e.g. thrust specific fuel consumption, referring to fuel consumption divided by thrust)
  10. 10
    A measure compared with a standard reference value by division, to produce a ratio without unit or dimension (e.g. specific refractive index is a pure number, and is relative to that of air).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. While some participants, like Gabi and Jasmine, had access to a gym but still felt uncertain about using specific types of equipment, others who trained at home faced even greater challenges due to the absence of both a coach and proper equipment.
  2. Holonyms: generic, familial

Etymology

From Old French specifique, from Late Latin specificus (“specific, particular”), from Latin speciēs (“kind”) + -ific.

Synonyms

expressmonosemousunambiguousexplicitsingularuniquepeculiarsingularconcretediscreteindividualparticularproperspecific

Antonyms

unspecificnonspecificbroadgeneralgenericuniversalall-purposegeneral-purposegrossgroup-specific antigennon-specificoverallpandemicspecific activityspecific gravity bottlewidespread

This word in other languages

específico(Español)spécifique(Français)spezifisch(Deutsch)específico(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • psecific
  • sepcific
  • spceific
  • speccific
  • specfiic
  • specifci
  • speciffic
  • specificc
  • speciifc
  • speicfic
  • sppecific
  • sspecific

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of specific - 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.

psecific2sepcific2spceific2speccific1specfiic2specifci2speciffic1specificc1
Edit distance from "specific"

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 "specific"?
"specific" is spelled S-P-E-C-I-F-I-C. The IPA pronunciation is /spɪˈsɪf.ɪk/.
What does "specific" mean?
As an adjective, "specific" means: Explicit or definite.
What words are commonly confused with "specific"?
"specific" is commonly confused with "specify", "specified". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "specific"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "specific" is /spɪˈsɪf.ɪk/. 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 "specific"?
From Old French specifique, from Late Latin specificus (“specific, particular”), from Latin speciēs (“kind”) + -ific. 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 "specific", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

standard#1,006response#1,000included#993February#990

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

minister12 variantsbeginning12 variantscampaign12 variantspractice12 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list