virulence
/ˈvɪɹjələns/
"virulence" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“virulence” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #47,408 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #47,408
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 14
- tracked misspellings
- 2
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The state of being virulent.
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 | virulence |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈvɪɹjələns/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #47,408 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 2 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “virulence” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for virulence is 9 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈvɪɹjələns/. Corpus data places it at rank #47,408 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for virulence, with forms such as "ivrulence", "virluence", and "virrulence". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 2 confusable-pair relationships, "virulent", "violence", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle French virulence, from Late Latin virulentia. The correct English form is virulence, spelled V-I-R-U-L-E-N-C-E.
Definition
- 1The state of being virulent.
- 2The degree of how virulent a thing is.
Etymology
From Middle French virulence, from Late Latin virulentia.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ivrulence,virluence,virrulence,viruelnce,virulance,virulecne,virulencce,virulenec,virulennce,virullence,virulnece,viurlence,vriulence,vvirulence
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of virulence - 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 “virulence”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is V-I-R-U-L-E-N-C-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈvɪɹjələns/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “virulent” - see the side-by-side comparison. virulence vs virulent
- 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.