whimsical
/ˈwɪmzɪkəl/
"whimsical" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“whimsical” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #25,642 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #25,642
- frequency rank, English
- 9
- letters
- 14
- tracked misspellings
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Given to whimsy.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | whimsical |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈwɪmzɪkəl/ |
| Letters | 9 |
| Frequency rank | #25,642 |
| Misspellings tracked | 14 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “whimsical” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for whimsical is 9 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈwɪmzɪkəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #25,642 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "Given to whimsy.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 14 likely wrong-spelling variants for whimsical, with forms such as "hwimsical", "whhimsical", and "whimiscal". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. Our dataset records no confusable match here, suggesting its spelling stands apart enough that readers rarely confuse it with something else.
Etymologically, the entry records: From whimsy + -ical. The correct English form is whimsical, spelled W-H-I-M-S-I-C-A-L.
Definition
- 1Given to whimsy.
Etymology
From whimsy + -ical.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hwimsical,whhimsical,whimiscal,whimmsical,whimscial,whimsiacl,whimsicall,whimsiccal,whimsicla,whimssical,whismical,whmisical,wihmsical,wwhimsical
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of whimsical - 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 "whimsical"?
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Using “whimsical”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-H-I-M-S-I-C-A-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈwɪmzɪkəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- 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.