vest
/vɛst/
"vest" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“vest” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #10,791 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #10,791
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A sleeveless garment that buttons down the front, worn over a shirt, and often as part of a suit; a waistcoat.
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 | vest |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /vɛst/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #10,791 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “vest” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for vest is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /vɛst/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,791 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for vest, with forms such as "evst", "vesst", and "vestt". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "vet", "vis", "VHS", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French veste (“a vest, jacket”), from Latin vestis (“a garment, gown, robe, vestment, clothing, vesture”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéstis, from *wes- (“to be dressed”) (English wear). Cognate with Sanskrit वस्त्र (vastra) and Spanish vestir. The correct English form is vest, spelled V-E-S-T.
Definition
- 1A sleeveless garment that buttons down the front, worn over a shirt, and often as part of a suit; a waistcoat.
- 2A sleeveless garment, often with a low-cut neck, usually worn under a shirt or blouse.
- 3A sleeveless top, typically with identifying colours or logos, worn by an athlete or member of a sports team.
- 4Any sleeveless outer garment, often for a purpose such as identification, safety, or storage.
- 5A vestment.
- 6Clothing generally; array; garb.
- 7A loose robe or outer garment worn historically by men in Arab or Middle Eastern countries.
Etymology
From French veste (“a vest, jacket”), from Latin vestis (“a garment, gown, robe, vestment, clothing, vesture”), from Proto-Indo-European *wéstis, from *wes- (“to be dressed”) (English wear). Cognate with Sanskrit वस्त्र (vastra) and Spanish vestir.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: evst,vesst,vestt,vset,vvest
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of vest - 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 “vest”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is V-E-S-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /vɛst/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “vet” - see the side-by-side comparison. vest vs vet
- 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.