withheld
/wɪθˈhɛld/
"withheld" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“withheld” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #18,224. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #18,224
- frequency rank, English
- 12,113
- “W” headwords
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - That has been kept or held back from the possession or knowledge of another.
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 | withheld |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /wɪθˈhɛld/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #18,224 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “withheld” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 11 spelling variants around withheld (IPA /wɪθˈhɛld/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #18,224 among 12,113 “W” headwords. Dominant gloss: "That has been kept or held back from the possession or knowledge of another.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for withheld, with forms such as "iwthheld", "wihtheld", and "withehld". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 1 confusable-pair relationship, "withhold", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
This entry's etymology isn't recorded, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is withheld, spelled W-I-T-H-H-E-L-D.
Definition
- 1That has been kept or held back from the possession or knowledge of another.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: iwthheld,wihtheld,withehld,witheld,withhedl,withheldd,withhelld,withhled,witthheld,wtihheld,wwithheld
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of withheld - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “withheld”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-I-T-H-H-E-L-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /wɪθˈhɛld/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “withhold” - see the side-by-side comparison. withheld vs withhold
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Same frequency band
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.