written
/ˈɹɪ.tn̩/
"written" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“written” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #861 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #861
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 4
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of, relating, or characteristic of writing (i.e., of that which has been written).
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 | written |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈɹɪ.tn̩/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #861 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 4 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “written” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for written is 7 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɹɪ.tn̩/. Corpus data places it at rank #861 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for written, with forms such as "rwitten", "wirtten", and "writen". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "write", "writer", "writes", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Morphologically write + -en. The correct English form is written, spelled W-R-I-T-T-E-N.
Definition
- 1Of, relating, or characteristic of writing (i.e., of that which has been written).
- 2Having been written.
Etymology
Morphologically write + -en.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: rwitten,wirtten,writen,writetn,writtenn,writtne,wrritten,wrtiten,wwritten
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of written - 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
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Using “written”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-R-I-T-T-E-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɹɪ.tn̩/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “write” - see the side-by-side comparison. written vs write
- 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.