vital
/ˈvaɪtəl/
"vital" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“vital” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #3,793. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #3,793
- frequency rank, English
- 969
- “V” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Relating to or characteristic of life.
Corpus desk
Index EN-vital · vital · English
vital · rank #3,793 · 7 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #3,793
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-MID 969
- PHOTO-FINISH valid
Nearest frequency peer: valid (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “vital”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- suitable
suitable
96,211 corpus weight
- thirty
thirty
96,210 corpus weight
- valid
valid
96,209 corpus weight
- vital
vital
96,208 corpus weight
- whilst
whilst
96,207 corpus weight
- agriculture
agriculture
96,205 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “vital” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | vital |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈvaɪtəl/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #3,793 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “vital” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around vital (IPA /ˈvaɪtəl/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #3,793 among 969 “V” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for vital, with forms such as "ivtal", "viatl", and "vitall". 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, "viva", "vocal", "vitals", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English vital, from Old French vital, from Latin vītālis (“of life, life-giving”), from vīta (“life”), from vīvō (“to live”). Doublet of jiva and quick. The correct English form is vital, spelled V-I-T-A-L.
Definition
- 1Relating to or characteristic of life.
- 2Necessary to the continuation of life; being the seat of life; being that on which life depends.
- 3Invigorating or life-giving.
- 4Necessary to continued existence.
- 5Relating to the recording of life events.
- 6Very important.
- 7Containing life; living.
- 8Lively, having vitality
- 9Capable of living; in a state to live; viable.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how vital appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
vital energies; vital functions; vital actions
But open converse is there none, So much the vital spirits sink To see the vacant chair, and think, ‘How good! how kind! and he is gone.’
Etymology
From Middle English vital, from Old French vital, from Latin vītālis (“of life, life-giving”), from vīta (“life”), from vīvō (“to live”). Doublet of jiva and quick.
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ivtal
- viatl
- vitall
- vitla
- vittal
- vtial
- vvital
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of vital - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "vital", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).
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.