thorough
/ˈθʌɹə/
"thorough" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“thorough” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #7,512. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #7,512
- frequency rank, English
- 27,828
- “T” headwords
- 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.
Corpus desk
Index EN-thorough · thorough · English
thorough · rank #7,512 · 12 variants · 4 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #7,512
- LEN-LONG 8 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
- VAR-MID 12 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 27,828
- PHOTO-FINISH thereafter
Nearest frequency peer: thereafter (-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 “thorough”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- talents
talents
92,492 corpus weight
- therapist
therapist
92,491 corpus weight
- thereafter
thereafter
92,490 corpus weight
- thorough
thorough
92,489 corpus weight
- tuition
tuition
92,488 corpus weight
- tumor
tumor
92,487 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “thorough” 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 | 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
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 12 spelling variants around thorough (IPA /ˈθʌɹə/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #7,512 among 27,828 “T” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
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.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how thorough appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The Prime Minister announced a thorough investigation into the death of a father-of-two in police custody.
Not enough! Your work has to be thorougher than this.
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.
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 "thorough"?
What does "thorough" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "thorough"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "thorough", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 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.