uncle

[ʌŋkl]

/[ʌŋkl]/ noun

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

The verdict

“uncle” has 7 generated spelling variants in the German index at frequency #45,644. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#45,644
frequency rank, German
2,159
“U” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
4
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Onkel

Corpus desk

Index DE-uncle · uncle · German

uncle · rank #45,644 · 7 variants · 4 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #45,644
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 4 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 2,159
  • PHOTO-FINISH unbewaffnet

Nearest frequency peer: unbewaffnet (-1 rank slots)

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.

Rang-Peers am Tippfehler-Magneten „uncle“

Gleiche Seltenheitsbandbreite: nützlich, wenn ein Tippfehler auf ein Peer-Lemma trifft

corpus weight

What this shows „uncle“ sitzt unter diesen FrequencyWords-Peers; die Tippfehlertiefe steht separat im 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).

uncle vs une
60% similar
uncle vs Unze
40% similar
uncle vs unsre
60% similar

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

Key facts for uncle
PropertyValue
Headworduncle
LanguageGerman
Part of speechNoun
IPA[ʌŋkl]
Letters5
Frequency rank#45,644
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs4
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Häufigkeitslage von Tippfehler-Magnet „uncle“

Von links nach rechts: die wenigen Träger des Alltags, dann der lange Schwanz kaum gebrauchter Formen.uncleliegt hier neben dem Tippfehler-Druck:

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

Die Achse ist logarithmisch: jeder Tick markiert etwa zehnfach geringere Häufigkeit. Peers derselben Seltenheitsbandbreite: „unbewaffnet“ (#45,643), „ungeschützt“ (#45,645), „unablässig“ (#45,642). Unter 2,159 „U“-Lemmata liegt „uncle“ bei #45,644. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around uncle (IPA [ʌŋkl]), anoun. Corpus frequency is #45,644 among 2,159 “U” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Onkel".

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for uncle, with forms such as "nucle", "ucnle", and "unccle". 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 4 confusable-pair relationships, "une", "Unze", "unsre", and more, 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 pattern is best understood through pronunciation rather than a traceable origin. The correct German form is uncle, spelled U-N-C-L-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Onkel

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. My uncle married last week.

Antonyms

aunt

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • nucle
  • ucnle
  • unccle
  • uncel
  • unclle
  • unlce
  • unncle

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of uncle - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

nucle2ucnle2unccle1uncel2unclle1unlce2unncle1
Edit distance from "uncle"

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 German corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "uncle"?
"uncle" is spelled U-N-C-L-E. The IPA pronunciation is [ʌŋkl].
What does "uncle" mean?
As a noun, "uncle" means: Onkel
What words are commonly confused with "uncle"?
"uncle" is commonly confused with "une", "Unze", "unsre". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "uncle"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "uncle" is [ʌŋkl]. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "uncle" come from?
"uncle" is a German word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 German words by spelling shape

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

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked German headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

wehte#45,686Werds#45,695skate#45,585wirre#45,704

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

staune7 variantsWillow7 variantswirres7 variantsAspen7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list