spirits

/ˈspɪɹɪts/

//ˈspɪɹɪts// verb

"spirits" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“spirits” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,553. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,553
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - third-person singular simple present indicative of spirit

Corpus desk

Index EN-spirits · spirits · English

spirits · rank #5,553 · 11 variants · 8 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,553
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sometime

Nearest frequency peer: sometime (-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 “spirits”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “spirits” 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).

spirits vs sports
71% similar
spirits vs sprite
71% similar
spirits vs sprites
71% similar

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

Key facts for spirits
PropertyValue
Headwordspirits
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ˈspɪɹɪts/
Letters7
Frequency rank#5,553
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “spirits”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).spiritslands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “sometime” (#5,552), “sporting” (#5,554), “shy” (#5,551). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “spirits” is #5,553. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around spirits (IPA /ˈspɪɹɪts/), averb. Corpus frequency is #5,553 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Dominant gloss: "third-person singular simple present indicative of spirit".

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for spirits, with forms such as "psirits", "siprits", and "spiirts". 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 8 confusable-pair relationships, "sports", "sprite", "sprites", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is spirits, spelled S-P-I-R-I-T-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    third-person singular simple present indicative of spirit

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • psirits
  • siprits
  • spiirts
  • spirist
  • spiritss
  • spiritts
  • spirrits
  • spirtis
  • sppirits
  • spriits
  • sspirits

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

psirits2siprits2spiirts2spirist2spiritss1spiritts1spirrits1spirtis2
Edit distance from "spirits"

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 "spirits"?
"spirits" is spelled S-P-I-R-I-T-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈspɪɹɪts/.
What does "spirits" mean?
As a verb, "spirits" means: third-person singular simple present indicative of spirit
What words are commonly confused with "spirits"?
"spirits" is commonly confused with "sports", "sprite", "sprites". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "spirits"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "spirits" is /ˈspɪɹɪts/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "spirits" come from?
"spirits" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "spirits", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list