verb
/vɜːb/
"verb" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“verb” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #10,965 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #10,965
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A word that indicates an action, event, or state of being.
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 | verb |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /vɜːb/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #10,965 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “verb” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for verb is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /vɜːb/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,965 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 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for verb, with forms such as "evrb", "vebr", and "verbb". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "VR", "vet", "vex", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English verbe, directly from Latin verbum (“word, verb”), reinforced by Old French verbe, from Proto-Indo-European *werdʰo-. Doublet of verve and word. The correct English form is verb, spelled V-E-R-B.
Definition
- 1A word that indicates an action, event, or state of being.
- 2Any word; a vocable.
- 3An action as opposed to a trait or thing.
- 4A named command that performs a specific operation on an object.
Etymology
From Middle English verbe, directly from Latin verbum (“word, verb”), reinforced by Old French verbe, from Proto-Indo-European *werdʰo-. Doublet of verve and word.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: evrb,vebr,verbb,verrb,vreb,vverb
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of verb - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "verb"?
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Using “verb”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is V-E-R-B - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /vɜːb/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “VR” - see the side-by-side comparison. verb vs VR
- 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.