verbal
/ˈvɜː.bəl/
"verbal" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“verbal” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #8,225 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #8,225
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 8
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of or relating to words.
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 | verbal |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈvɜː.bəl/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #8,225 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 8 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “verbal” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for verbal is 6 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈvɜː.bəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,225 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for verbal, with forms such as "evrbal", "vebral", and "verabl". 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 8 confusable-pair relationships, "viral", "Verma", "Verna", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Old French verbal, from Late Latin verbālis (“belonging to a word”). Equivalent to verb + -al. The correct English form is verbal, spelled V-E-R-B-A-L.
Definition
- 1Of or relating to words.
- 2Concerned with the words, rather than the substance of a text.
- 3Consisting of words only.
- 4Expressly spoken rather than written; oral.
- 5Derived from, or having the nature of a verb.
- 6Used to form a verb.
- 7Capable of speech.
- 8Word for word.
- 9Abounding with words; verbose.
Etymology
From Old French verbal, from Late Latin verbālis (“belonging to a word”). Equivalent to verb + -al.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: evrbal,vebral,verabl,verball,verbbal,verbla,verrbal,vrebal,vverbal
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of verbal - 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “verbal”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is V-E-R-B-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈvɜː.bəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “viral” - see the side-by-side comparison. verbal vs viral
- 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.