symmetrical
/sɪˈmɛtɹɪkəl/
"symmetrical" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“symmetrical” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #20,242 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #20,242
- frequency rank, English
- 11
- letters
- 16
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Exhibiting symmetry; having harmonious or proportionate arrangement of parts; having corresponding parts or relations.
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 | symmetrical |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /sɪˈmɛtɹɪkəl/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #20,242 |
| Misspellings tracked | 16 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “symmetrical” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for symmetrical is 11 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /sɪˈmɛtɹɪkəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #20,242 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Exhibiting symmetry; having harmonious or proportionate arrangement of parts; having corresponding parts or relations.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for symmetrical, with forms such as "smymetrical", "ssymmetrical", and "symemtrical". 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, "symmetric", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From symmetry + -ical. The correct English form is symmetrical, spelled S-Y-M-M-E-T-R-I-C-A-L.
Definition
- 1Exhibiting symmetry; having harmonious or proportionate arrangement of parts; having corresponding parts or relations.
Etymology
From symmetry + -ical.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: smymetrical,ssymmetrical,symemtrical,symetrical,symmertical,symmetircal,symmetrcial,symmetriacl,symmetricall,symmetriccal,symmetricla,symmetrrical,symmettrical,symmterical,syymmetrical,ysmmetrical
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of symmetrical - 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.
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 "symmetrical"?
What does "symmetrical" mean?
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Using “symmetrical”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-Y-M-M-E-T-R-I-C-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /sɪˈmɛtɹɪkəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “symmetric” - see the side-by-side comparison. symmetrical vs symmetric
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.