swift
/swɪft/
"swift" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“swift” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,635. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #5,635
- frequency rank, English
- 54,294
- “S” headwords
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Fast; quick; rapid.
Corpus desk
Index EN-swift · swift · English
swift · rank #5,635 · 8 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #5,635
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 8 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 54,294
- PHOTO-FINISH suspected
Nearest frequency peer: suspected (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “swift”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- stating
stating
94,369 corpus weight
- strain
strain
94,368 corpus weight
- suspected
suspected
94,367 corpus weight
- swift
swift
94,366 corpus weight
- tackle
tackle
94,365 corpus weight
- timeline
timeline
94,363 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “swift” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | swift |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /swɪft/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #5,635 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “swift” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 8 spelling variants around swift (IPA /swɪft/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #5,635 among 54,294 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for swift, with forms such as "siwft", "sswift", and "swfit". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "swim", "swot", "swig", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English swift, from Old English swift (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Germanic *swiftaz (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)weyp- (“to twist; wind around”). Cognate with Icelandic svipta (“to pull quickly”), Old English swīfan (“to revol… The correct English form is swift, spelled S-W-I-F-T.
Definition
- 1Fast; quick; rapid.
- 2Capable of moving at high speeds.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how swift appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
swift action
swift response
Etymology
From Middle English swift, from Old English swift (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Germanic *swiftaz (“swift; quick”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)weyp- (“to twist; wind around”). Cognate with Icelandic svipta (“to pull quickly”), Old English swīfan (“to revolve, sweep, wend, intervene”). More at swivel.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- siwft
- sswift
- swfit
- swifft
- swiftt
- switf
- swwift
- wsift
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of swift - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "swift"?
What does "swift" mean?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "swift", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.