thorough
/ˈθʌɹə/
"thorough" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“thorough” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #7,512 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #7,512
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 12
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Painstaking and careful not to miss or omit any detail.
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 | thorough |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈθʌɹə/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #7,512 |
| Misspellings tracked | 12 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “thorough” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for thorough is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈθʌɹə/. Corpus data places it at rank #7,512 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for thorough, with forms such as "htorough", "thhorough", and "thoorugh". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 4 confusable-pair relationships, "though", "trough", "through", 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 thoruȝ, þoruȝ, from Old English þuruh, a byform of Old English þurh, whence comes English through. The adjective derives from the preposition and adverb. The word developed a syllabic form in cases where the word was fully stressed: when… The correct English form is thorough, spelled T-H-O-R-O-U-G-H.
Definition
- 1Painstaking and careful not to miss or omit any detail.
- 2Utter; complete; absolute.
Etymology
From Middle English thoruȝ, þoruȝ, from Old English þuruh, a byform of Old English þurh, whence comes English through. The adjective derives from the preposition and adverb. The word developed a syllabic form in cases where the word was fully stressed: when it was used as an adverb, adjective, or noun, and less commonly when used as a preposition.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: htorough,thhorough,thoorugh,thoroguh,thorouggh,thoroughh,thorouhg,thorrough,thoruogh,throough,tohrough,tthorough
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of thorough - 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 "thorough"?
What does "thorough" mean?
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Using “thorough”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is T-H-O-R-O-U-G-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈθʌɹə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “though” - see the side-by-side comparison. thorough vs though
- 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.