spiritual

/ˈspɪɹɪtʃʊəl/

//ˈspɪɹɪtʃʊəl// adj

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

"spiritual" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“spiritual” has 13 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,656. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,656
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
13
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of or pertaining to the spirit or the soul.

Corpus desk

Index EN-spiritual · spiritual · English

spiritual · rank #3,656 · 13 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,656
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-HIGH 13 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH smooth

Nearest frequency peer: smooth (-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 “spiritual”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “spiritual” 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).

spiritual vs spiritually
82% similar

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

Key facts for spiritual
PropertyValue
Headwordspiritual
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈspɪɹɪtʃʊəl/
Letters9
Frequency rank#3,656
Misspellings tracked13
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “spiritual”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).spirituallands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “smooth” (#3,655), “stops” (#3,657), “signing” (#3,654). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “spiritual” is #3,656. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 13 spelling variants around spiritual (IPA /ˈspɪɹɪtʃʊəl/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #3,656 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for spiritual, with forms such as "psiritual", "sipritual", and "spiirtual". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "spiritually", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English spiritual, spirituel, from Old French spirituel, from Late Latin spīrituālis, from Latin spīritus. By surface analysis, spirit + -ual. The correct English form is spiritual, spelled S-P-I-R-I-T-U-A-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of or pertaining to the spirit or the soul.
  2. 2
    Of or pertaining to God or a place of worship; sacred, pure; (Christianity, specifically) inspired by the Holy Spirit.
  3. 3
    Of or pertaining to spirits; supernatural.
  4. 4
    Consisting of spirit; not material; incorporeal.
  5. 5
    Of or relating to the intellectual and higher endowments of the mind; mental; intellectual.
  6. 6
    Not lay or temporal; relating to sacred things; ecclesiastical.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Respect towards ancestors is an essential part of Thai spiritual practice.
  2. Brethren, if a man bee ouertaken in a fault: yee which are spirituall, restore such a one in the spirit of meeknesse, considering thy selfe least thou also be tempted.

Etymology

From Middle English spiritual, spirituel, from Old French spirituel, from Late Latin spīrituālis, from Latin spīritus. By surface analysis, spirit + -ual.

This word in other languages

espiritual(Español)spirituel(Français)geistig(Deutsch)espiritual(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • psiritual
  • sipritual
  • spiirtual
  • spiritaul
  • spirittual
  • spirituall
  • spiritula
  • spiriutal
  • spirritual
  • spirtiual
  • sppiritual
  • spriitual
  • sspiritual

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

psiritual2sipritual2spiirtual2spiritaul2spirittual1spirituall1spiritula2spiriutal2
Edit distance from "spiritual"

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 "spiritual"?
"spiritual" is spelled S-P-I-R-I-T-U-A-L. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈspɪɹɪtʃʊəl/.
What does "spiritual" mean?
As an adjective, "spiritual" means: Of or pertaining to the spirit or the soul.
What words are commonly confused with "spiritual"?
"spiritual" is commonly confused with "spiritually". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "spiritual"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "spiritual" is /ˈspɪɹɪtʃʊəl/. 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 "spiritual"?
From Middle English spiritual, spirituel, from Old French spirituel, from Late Latin spīrituālis, from Latin spīritus. By surface analysis, spirit + -ual. 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 "spiritual", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 9 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

associate#3,668ownership#3,643broadcast#3,673Cambridge#3,675

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (13 here; floor ≥5).

throwing13 variantsconsists13 variantsentrance13 variantsdowntown13 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list