weevil
/ˈwiːv(ə)l/
"weevil" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“weevil” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #40,515 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #40,515
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any of many tens of thousands of species of herbivorous beetles, ranging in size from tiny to large, in the superfamily Curculionoidea, the most characteristic species having the head projecting in...
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 | weevil |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈwiːv(ə)l/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #40,515 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “weevil” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for weevil is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈwiːv(ə)l/. Corpus data places it at rank #40,515 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for weevil, with forms such as "ewevil", "weeivl", and "weevill". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "weenie", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English wevel, from Old English wifel (“beetle”), from Proto-West Germanic *wibil, from Proto-Germanic *wibilaz, from Proto-Indo-European *webʰel-, from *(h₁)webʰ- (“to wave, to weave”), said to be from the woven appearance of a weevil’s larval … The correct English form is weevil, spelled W-E-E-V-I-L.
Definition
- 1Any of many tens of thousands of species of herbivorous beetles, ranging in size from tiny to large, in the superfamily Curculionoidea, the most characteristic species having the head projecting in a distinctive snout with the mouthparts at the tip.
- 2Any of many tens of thousands of species of herbivorous beetles of various sizes, in the family Curculionidae within the superfamily Curculionoidea.
- 3Any of many similar, but more distantly related, beetles such as the biscuit weevil (Stegobium paniceum).
- 4A loathsome person.
Etymology
From Middle English wevel, from Old English wifel (“beetle”), from Proto-West Germanic *wibil, from Proto-Germanic *wibilaz, from Proto-Indo-European *webʰel-, from *(h₁)webʰ- (“to wave, to weave”), said to be from the woven appearance of a weevil’s larval case, + *-el-, *-l̥- (diminutive or attributive suffix); see also wave and weave. Compare Old Saxon *wivil (“beetle”); Middle Low German wevel; Old High German wibil, wipil (modern German Wiebel (“beetle; chafer”)); Lithuanian vãbalas (“beetle; weevil”); Old Norse vifill, as in tordyfill (“dung beetle, scarab”) (whence Dutch tortwevel; Icelandic tordýfill, Norwegian tordivel, Old English tordwifel, Swedish tordyvel); dialectal Russian ве́блица (véblica, “intestinal worm”).
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ewevil,weeivl,weevill,weevli,weevvil,weveil,wevil,wweevil
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of weevil - 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.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "weevil"?
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Using “weevil”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-E-E-V-I-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈwiːv(ə)l/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “weenie” - see the side-by-side comparison. weevil vs weenie
- 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.