vacate
/veɪˈkeɪt/
"vacate" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“vacate” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #24,351 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #24,351
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To move out of a dwelling or other property, either by choice or by eviction.
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 | vacate |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /veɪˈkeɪt/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #24,351 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “vacate” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for vacate is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /veɪˈkeɪt/. Corpus data places it at rank #24,351 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 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 vacate, with forms such as "avcate", "vaacte", and "vacaet". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "vaca", "vacant", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Originally used in the legal sense "to annul", a denominal from Early Modern English vacat (“legal annulment”), a development from Middle English vacat (“absence or cancellation noted in a register”), from Latin vacat, third-person singular present active i… The correct English form is vacate, spelled V-A-C-A-T-E.
Definition
- 1To move out of a dwelling or other property, either by choice or by eviction.
- 2To leave an office or position.
- 3To have a court judgement set aside; to annul.
- 4To leave an area, usually as a result of orders from public authorities in the event of a riot or natural disaster.
Etymology
Originally used in the legal sense "to annul", a denominal from Early Modern English vacat (“legal annulment”), a development from Middle English vacat (“absence or cancellation noted in a register”), from Latin vacat, third-person singular present active indicative of vacō (“to be idle; to be unoccupied”, literally “to be empty”). The primary modern sense "to move out" likely developed under the influence of older borrowing vacant (“unoccupied”), in combination with the Early Modern use of vacate to refer to the termination of official appointments to office, which would leave those position vacant.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: avcate,vaacte,vacaet,vacatte,vaccate,vactae,vcaate,vvacate
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of vacate - 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 "vacate"?
What does "vacate" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "vacate"?
How do you pronounce "vacate"?
What is the origin of the word "vacate"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “vacate”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is V-A-C-A-T-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /veɪˈkeɪt/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “vaca” - see the side-by-side comparison. vacate vs vaca
- 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.