successful

/səkˈsɛs.fəl/

//səkˈsɛs.fəl// adj

"successful" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“successful” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,238. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#1,238
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
1
confusable pair

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Resulting in success; assuring or promoting success; accomplishing what was proposed; having the desired effect.

Corpus desk

Index EN-successful · successful · English

successful · rank #1,238 · 12 variants · 1 confusable

  • FREQ-COMMON #1,238
  • LEN-MEGA 10 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH stupid

Nearest frequency peer: stupid (-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 “successful”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “successful” 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).

successful vs successfully
83% similar

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

Key facts for successful
PropertyValue
Headwordsuccessful
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/səkˈsɛs.fəl/
Letters10
Frequency rank#1,238
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs1
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “successful”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).successfullands 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 “stupid” (#1,237), “active” (#1,239), “sports” (#1,236). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “successful” is #1,238. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around successful (IPA /səkˈsɛs.fəl/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #1,238 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Resulting in success; assuring or promoting success; accomplishing what was proposed; having the desired effect.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for successful, with forms such as "scucessful", "ssuccessful", and "succesfsul". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "successfully", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From success + -ful. The correct English form is successful, spelled S-U-C-C-E-S-S-F-U-L.

Definition

  1. 1
    Resulting in success; assuring or promoting success; accomplishing what was proposed; having the desired effect.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. a successful use of medicine; a successful experiment; a successful enterprise
  2. If successful, Edison and Ford—in 1914—would move society away from the ever more expensive and then universally known killing hazards of gasoline cars: […] .

Etymology

From success + -ful.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • scucessful
  • ssuccessful
  • succesfsul
  • succesful
  • successfful
  • successflu
  • successfull
  • successufl
  • succsesful
  • sucecssful
  • sucessful
  • usccessful

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

scucessful2ssuccessful1succesfsul2succesful1successfful1successflu2successfull1successufl2
Edit distance from "successful"

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 "successful"?
"successful" is spelled S-U-C-C-E-S-S-F-U-L. The IPA pronunciation is /səkˈsɛs.fəl/.
What does "successful" mean?
As an adjective, "successful" means: Resulting in success; assuring or promoting success; accomplishing what was proposed; having the desired effect.
What words are commonly confused with "successful"?
"successful" is commonly confused with "successfully". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "successful"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "successful" is /səkˈsɛs.fəl/. 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 "successful"?
From success + -ful. 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 "successful", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list