utility
/juːˈtɪl.ɪ.ti/
"utility" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“utility” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #4,564 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #4,564
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The state or condition of being useful; usefulness.
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 | utility |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /juːˈtɪl.ɪ.ti/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #4,564 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “utility” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for utility is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /juːˈtɪl.ɪ.ti/. Corpus data places it at rank #4,564 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for utility, with forms such as "tuility", "uitlity", and "utiilty". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "utilize", "utilise", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English utilite, from Old French utilite, utilitet (“usefulness”), from Latin ūtilitās, from uti (“to use”). By surface analysis, utile + -ity. The correct English form is utility, spelled U-T-I-L-I-T-Y.
Definition
- 1The state or condition of being useful; usefulness.
- 2Something that is useful.
- 3The ability of a commodity to satisfy needs or wants; the satisfaction experienced by the consumer of that commodity.
- 4Well-being, satisfaction, pleasure, or happiness.
- 5A commodity or service provided on a continuous basis by a physical infrastructure network, such as electricity, water supply or sewerage.
- 6A natural or legal monopoly distributer of such a utility; or, the securities of such a provider.
- 7A software program other than a game; one that is useful or creative rather than merely entertaining.
- 8A software program designed to perform a single task or a small range of tasks, often to help manage and tune computer hardware, an operating system, or application software.
- 9The ability to play multiple positions.
- 10A coupé utility, or ute; an automobile with an open tray or bed behind the passenger cabin.
Etymology
From Middle English utilite, from Old French utilite, utilitet (“usefulness”), from Latin ūtilitās, from uti (“to use”). By surface analysis, utile + -ity.
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: tuility,uitlity,utiilty,utilitty,utilityy,utiliyt,utillity,utiltiy,utliity,uttility
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of utility - 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
How do you spell "utility"?
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Using “utility”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is U-T-I-L-I-T-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /juːˈtɪl.ɪ.ti/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “utilize” - see the side-by-side comparison. utility vs utilize
- 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.