survive

/səˈvaɪv/

//səˈvaɪv// verb

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

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

The verdict

“survive” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,920. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,920
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
5
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of a person, to continue to live; to remain alive.

Corpus desk

Index EN-survive · survive · English

survive · rank #2,920 · 10 variants · 5 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,920
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 5 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH suffered

Nearest frequency peer: suffered (-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 “survive”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “survive” 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).

survive vs survivor
75% similar
survive vs strive
71% similar
survive vs service
71% similar

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

Key facts for survive
PropertyValue
Headwordsurvive
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/səˈvaɪv/
Letters7
Frequency rank#2,920
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs5
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “survive”

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).survivelands 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 “suffered” (#2,919), “tall” (#2,921), “steam” (#2,918). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “survive” is #2,920. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around survive (IPA /səˈvaɪv/), averb. Corpus frequency is #2,920 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for survive, with forms such as "sruvive", "ssurvive", and "surivve". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "survivor", "strive", "service", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Anglo-Norman survivre, Old French survivre, from Late Latin supervivere (“to outlive”), from Latin super (“over”) + vivere (“to live”), akin to vita (“life”). See vivid. Compare devive, revive. The correct English form is survive, spelled S-U-R-V-I-V-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of a person, to continue to live; to remain alive.
  2. 2
    Of an object or concept, to continue to exist.
  3. 3
    To live past (a life-threatening event)
  4. 4
    To live longer than (someone); to outlive (someone or something); to outlast (something).
  5. 5
    To be a victim of nonfatal but substantial harm and nonetheless to display the strength to heal; especially, after a crime or an illness, especially sexual or physical abuse or assault, cancer, or a natural disaster.
  6. 6
    Of a team, to avoid relegation or demotion to a lower division or league.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Whether by a miracle or by good luck, all twenty passengers survived.
  2. This town has been hit by two hurricanes, but it survives.

Etymology

From Anglo-Norman survivre, Old French survivre, from Late Latin supervivere (“to outlive”), from Latin super (“over”) + vivere (“to live”), akin to vita (“life”). See vivid. Compare devive, revive.

This word in other languages

sobrevivir(Español)survivre(Français)überleben(Deutsch)sobreviver(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • sruvive
  • ssurvive
  • surivve
  • surrvive
  • surviev
  • survivve
  • survvie
  • survvive
  • suvrive
  • usrvive

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of survive - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

sruvive2ssurvive1surivve2surrvive1surviev2survivve1survvie2survvive1
Edit distance from "survive"

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 "survive"?
"survive" is spelled S-U-R-V-I-V-E. The IPA pronunciation is /səˈvaɪv/.
What does "survive" mean?
As a verb, "survive" means: Of a person, to continue to live; to remain alive.
What words are commonly confused with "survive"?
"survive" is commonly confused with "survivor", "strive", "service". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "survive"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "survive" is /səˈvaɪv/. 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 "survive"?
From Anglo-Norman survivre, Old French survivre, from Late Latin supervivere (“to outlive”), from Latin super (“over”) + vivere (“to live”), akin to vita (“life”). See vivid. Compare devive, revive. 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 "survive", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

smoking#2,917theatre#2,923therapy#2,924witness#2,925

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

suffered10 variantsadopted10 variantsseasons10 variantslicense10 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list