virile

/ˈvɪɹ.əl/

//ˈvɪɹ.əl// adj

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

"virile" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“virile” is uncommon English (frequency #52,088 among 969 “V” headwords), classed as an adjective. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,088
frequency rank, English
969
“V” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Manly; having characteristics associated with being male, such as strength; exhibiting masculine traits to an exaggerated degree such as strength, forcefulness or vigor.

Corpus desk

Index EN-virile · virile · English

virile · rank #52,088 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,088
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 969
  • PHOTO-FINISH Vitali

Nearest frequency peer: Vitali (+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.

Long-tail ranks near “virile”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “virile” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for virile
PropertyValue
Headwordvirile
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈvɪɹ.əl/
Letters6
Frequency rank#52,088
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “virile” in English

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).virilefalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “Vitali” (#52,089), “venereal” (#52,085), “Venables” (#52,084). Among 969 “V” headwords, “virile” is #52,088. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

virile is uncommon English at frequency #52,088 among 969 “V” headwords, classed as anadjective, transcribed /ˈvɪɹ.əl/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.

virile has no tracked misspelling variants, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French viril, from Latin virīlis, from vir (“man”, “male human”) + -īlis (suffix forming adjectives from nouns). The correct English form is virile, spelled V-I-R-I-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Manly; having characteristics associated with being male, such as strength; exhibiting masculine traits to an exaggerated degree such as strength, forcefulness or vigor.
  2. 2
    Possessing high sexual drive and capacity for sexual intercourse.
  3. 3
    Pertaining to a grammatical gender used in plurals of some Slavic languages, corresponding to the personal masculine animate nouns.

Etymology

From Middle French viril, from Latin virīlis, from vir (“man”, “male human”) + -īlis (suffix forming adjectives from nouns).

Antonyms

nonvirilemuliebrilemuliebral

This word in other languages

viril(Español)viril(Français)männlich(Deutsch)viril(Português)

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 "virile"?
"virile" is spelled V-I-R-I-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈvɪɹ.əl/.
What does "virile" mean?
As an adjective, "virile" means: Manly; having characteristics associated with being male, such as strength; exhibiting masculine traits to an exaggerated degree such as strength, forcefulness or vigor.
How do you pronounce "virile"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "virile" is /ˈvɪɹ.əl/. 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 "virile"?
From Middle French viril, from Latin virīlis, from vir (“man”, “male human”) + -īlis (suffix forming adjectives from nouns). 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 "virile", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Vitali#52,089Vasily#52,083wattle#52,096unhurt#52,070

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list