think
/ˈθɪŋk/
"think" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“think” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #89 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #89
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To ponder, to go over in one's mind.
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 | think |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈθɪŋk/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #89 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “think” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for think is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈθɪŋk/. Corpus data places it at rank #89 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for think, with forms such as "htink", "thhink", and "thikn". 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, "tin", "tik", "this", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English thinken, thynken, thenken, thenchen, from Old English þenċan, from Proto-West Germanic *þankijan, from Proto-Germanic *þankijaną (“to think”), from Proto-Indo-European *teng- (“to think, feel, know”). Cognate with Scots think, thynk (“to… The correct English form is think, spelled T-H-I-N-K.
Definition
- 1To ponder, to go over in one's mind.
- 2To have (some statement) in one's mind; to say to oneself mentally.
- 3To communicate to oneself in one's mind, to try to find a solution to a problem.
- 4To conceive of something or someone
- 5To be of opinion (that); to consider, judge, regard, or look upon (something) as.
- 6To guess; to reckon; to believe while admittedly being uncertain.
- 7To plan; to be considering; to be of a mind (to do something).
- 8To presume; to venture.
- 9Ellipsis of think so.
Etymology
From Middle English thinken, thynken, thenken, thenchen, from Old English þenċan, from Proto-West Germanic *þankijan, from Proto-Germanic *þankijaną (“to think”), from Proto-Indo-European *teng- (“to think, feel, know”). Cognate with Scots think, thynk (“to think”), North Frisian teenk, taanke, tanke, tånke (“to think”), Saterland Frisian toanke (“to think”), West Frisian tinke (“to think”), Dutch denken, dinken (“to think”), Afrikaans dink (“to think”), Low German denken, dinken (“to think”), German denken (“to think”), Danish tænke (“to think”), Swedish tänka (“to think”), Norwegian Bokmål tenke (“to think”), Norwegian Nynorsk tenkja (“to think”), Icelandic þekkja (“to know, recognise, identify, perceive”), Latin tongeō (“know”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: htink,thhink,thikn,thinkk,thinnk,thnik,tihnk,tthink
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of think - 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.
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 “think”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-H-I-N-K - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈθɪŋk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “tin” - see the side-by-side comparison. think vs tin
- 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.