thanks
/ˈθæŋks/
"thanks" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“thanks” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #362 in English word frequency and used as an interjection.
- #362
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Used to express appreciation or gratitude.
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 | thanks |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Interjection |
| IPA | /ˈθæŋks/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #362 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “thanks” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for thanks is 6 letters long, classified as an interjection, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈθæŋks/. Corpus data places it at rank #362 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Used to express appreciation or gratitude.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for thanks, with forms such as "htanks", "tahnks", and "thakns". 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, "think", "thats", "trans", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English thanks, thankes, from Old English þancas (“thanks”), from Proto-Germanic *þankōs, nominative plural of *þankaz (“thought, gratitude”), from Proto-Indo-European *teng- (“to think, feel”). More at thank. The correct English form is thanks, spelled T-H-A-N-K-S.
Definition
- 1Used to express appreciation or gratitude.
Etymology
From Middle English thanks, thankes, from Old English þancas (“thanks”), from Proto-Germanic *þankōs, nominative plural of *þankaz (“thought, gratitude”), from Proto-Indo-European *teng- (“to think, feel”). More at thank.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: htanks,tahnks,thakns,thankks,thankss,thannks,thansk,thhanks,thnaks,tthanks
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of thanks - 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “thanks”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-H-A-N-K-S - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈθæŋks/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “think” - see the side-by-side comparison. thanks vs think
- 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.