vacation

/vəˈkeɪ.ʃən/

//vəˈkeɪ.ʃən// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"vacation" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“vacation” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,664. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#3,664
frequency rank, English
969
“V” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
3
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An extended trip or journey away from home for rest or pleasure.

Corpus desk

Index EN-vacation · vacation · English

vacation · rank #3,664 · 12 variants · 3 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #3,664
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 969
  • PHOTO-FINISH thrown

Nearest frequency peer: thrown (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “vacation”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “vacation” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

vacation vs vocation
88% similar
vacation vs variation
78% similar
vacation vs valuation
78% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for vacation
PropertyValue
Headwordvacation
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/vəˈkeɪ.ʃən/
Letters8
Frequency rank#3,664
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs3
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “vacation”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).vacationlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “thrown” (#3,663), “abroad” (#3,665), “throwing” (#3,662). Among 969 “V” headwords, “vacation” is #3,664. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around vacation (IPA /vəˈkeɪ.ʃən/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #3,664 among 969 “V” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for vacation, with forms such as "avcation", "vaaction", and "vacaiton". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "vocation", "variation", "valuation", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Inherited from Middle English vacation, vacacion, vacacioun, from Anglo-Norman vacacioun, from Old French vacacion, vacation, from Latin vacātiō. Equivalent to vacate + -ion. The correct English form is vacation, spelled V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    An extended trip or journey away from home for rest or pleasure.
  2. 2
    An extended period of leisure time away from work or school.
  3. 3
    A period during which official activity or business is formally suspended; an official holiday from university, law courts etc.
  4. 4
    The act of vacating something; moving out.
  5. 5
    The act of making legally void.
  6. 6
    Freedom from some business or activity.
  7. 7
    Free time given over to a specific purpose; occupation, activity.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how vacation appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. We were on vacation in Florida this year.
  2. Schoolchildren are on vacation this week.

Etymology

Inherited from Middle English vacation, vacacion, vacacioun, from Anglo-Norman vacacioun, from Old French vacacion, vacation, from Latin vacātiō. Equivalent to vacate + -ion.

Synonyms

annual leavebreakday offgetawayholidayleaveleave of absencepauserecesstime awaytime offvacvacationvacavacay

This word in other languages

vacaciones(Español)vacances(Français)Urlaub(Deutsch)férias(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • avcation
  • vaaction
  • vacaiton
  • vacasion
  • vacatino
  • vacationn
  • vacatoin
  • vacattion
  • vaccation
  • vactaion
  • vcaation
  • vvacation

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of vacation - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

avcation2vaaction2vacaiton2vacasion1vacatino2vacationn1vacatoin2vacattion1
Edit distance from "vacation"

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 "vacation"?
"vacation" is spelled V-A-C-A-T-I-O-N. The IPA pronunciation is /vəˈkeɪ.ʃən/.
What does "vacation" mean?
As a noun, "vacation" means: An extended trip or journey away from home for rest or pleasure.
What words are commonly confused with "vacation"?
"vacation" is commonly confused with "vocation", "variation", "valuation". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "vacation"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "vacation" is /vəˈkeɪ.ʃən/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "vacation"?
Inherited from Middle English vacation, vacacion, vacacioun, from Anglo-Norman vacacioun, from Old French vacacion, vacation, from Latin vacātiō. Equivalent to vacate + -ion. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "vacation", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

throwing#3,662assigned#3,667Atlantic#3,670cleaning#3,677

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

disaster12 variantsdiscover12 variantsmanaging12 variantsinstalled12 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list