wraith

/ɹeɪθ/

//ɹeɪθ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"wraith" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“wraith” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #28,091. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#28,091
frequency rank, English
1,759
“W” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
9
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A ghost or specter, especially a person's likeness seen just after their death.

Corpus desk

Index EN-wraith · wraith · English

wraith · rank #28,091 · 9 variants · 9 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #28,091
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 9 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,759
  • PHOTO-FINISH wot

Nearest frequency peer: wot (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “wraith”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “wraith” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

wraith vs writ
67% similar
wraith vs write
67% similar
wraith vs wrath
83% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for wraith
PropertyValue
Headwordwraith
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɹeɪθ/
Letters6
Frequency rank#28,091
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs9
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “wraith”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).wraithlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “wot” (#28,090), “ya'll” (#28,092), “wobbly” (#28,089). Among 1,759 “W” headwords, “wraith” is #28,091. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around wraith (IPA /ɹeɪθ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #28,091 among 1,759 “W” headwords. Dominant gloss: "A ghost or specter, especially a person's likeness seen just after their death.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for wraith, with forms such as "rwaith", "warith", and "wraiht". 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 9 confusable-pair relationships, "writ", "write", "wrath", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Middle Scots wraith, first attested in 1513 in a translation of the Aeneid. The word has no certain etymology; it may be a transferred use of Middle Scots wraith, wrath (nominally "anger, rage", adjectivally "angry, wrathful"), thus connecting… The correct English form is wraith, spelled W-R-A-I-T-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    A ghost or specter, especially a person's likeness seen just after their death.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how wraith appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. We might indeed have been the wraiths of the departed dead upon the dead sea of that dying planet for all the sound or sign we made in passing.
  2. Like wraiths with the impediments of bodies they stumbled in the direction of Salthill faces.

Etymology

Borrowed from Middle Scots wraith, first attested in 1513 in a translation of the Aeneid. The word has no certain etymology; it may be a transferred use of Middle Scots wraith, wrath (nominally "anger, rage", adjectivally "angry, wrathful"), thus connecting it to writhe and making it a doublet of wrath and wroth. Century Dictionary compares Old Norse vǫrðr (“guardian”); Klein compares Irish arrachd (“apparition”), which is related to riochd (“shape, likeness”).

This word in other languages

fantasma(Español)fantôme(Français)Gespenst(Deutsch)espectro(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • rwaith
  • warith
  • wraiht
  • wraithh
  • wraitth
  • wratih
  • wriath
  • wrraith
  • wwraith

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of wraith - 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.

rwaith2warith2wraiht2wraithh1wraitth1wratih2wriath2wrraith1
Edit distance from "wraith"

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 "wraith"?
"wraith" is spelled W-R-A-I-T-H. The IPA pronunciation is /ɹeɪθ/.
What does "wraith" mean?
As a noun, "wraith" means: A ghost or specter, especially a person's likeness seen just after their death.
What words are commonly confused with "wraith"?
"wraith" is commonly confused with "writ", "write", "wrath". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "wraith"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "wraith" is /ɹeɪθ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "wraith"?
Borrowed from Middle Scots wraith, first attested in 1513 in a translation of the Aeneid. The word has no certain etymology; it may be a transferred use of Middle Scots wraith, wrath (nominally "anger, rage", adjectivally "angry, wrathful"), thus ... See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "wraith", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

wobbly#28,089Yangon#28,093Welles#28,086trusty#28,063

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

alameda9 variantsAquinas9 variantsbanger9 variantsbasalt9 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list