wrongful
/ˈɹɒŋfəl/
"wrongful" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“wrongful” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #18,997 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #18,997
- frequency rank, English
- 8
- letters
- 13
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - wrong or unjust
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 | wrongful |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈɹɒŋfəl/ |
| Letters | 8 |
| Frequency rank | #18,997 |
| Misspellings tracked | 13 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “wrongful” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for wrongful is 8 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɹɒŋfəl/. Corpus data places it at rank #18,997 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 13 likely wrong-spelling variants for wrongful, with forms such as "rwongful", "worngful", and "wrnogful". 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, "wrongfully", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English wrongful, equivalent to wrong + -ful. The correct English form is wrongful, spelled W-R-O-N-G-F-U-L.
Definition
- 1wrong or unjust
- 2unlawful or illegal
Etymology
From Middle English wrongful, equivalent to wrong + -ful.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: rwongful,worngful,wrnogful,wrognful,wronfgul,wrongfful,wrongflu,wrongfull,wronggful,wrongufl,wronngful,wrrongful,wwrongful
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of wrongful - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 “wrongful”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is W-R-O-N-G-F-U-L - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɹɒŋfəl/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “wrongfully” - see the side-by-side comparison. wrongful vs wrongfully
- 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.