agar

/ˈeɪ.ɡə/

//ˈeɪ.ɡə// noun

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

"agar" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“agar” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #28,103) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#28,103
frequency rank, English
3,931
“A” headwords
4
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A gelatinous substance obtained from red algae, especially Gracilaria species, used as a bacterial culture medium, in electrophoresis and as a food additive.

Corpus desk

Index EN-agar · agar · English

agar · rank #28,103 · 4 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #28,103
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-LOW 4 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,931
  • PHOTO-FINISH AFB

Nearest frequency peer: AFB (-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.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “agar”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “agar” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

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).

agar vs AR
0% similar
agar vs ago
50% similar
agar vs air
50% similar

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

Key facts for agar
PropertyValue
Headwordagar
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈeɪ.ɡə/
Letters4
Frequency rank#28,103
Misspellings tracked4
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “agar”

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).agarlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “AFB” (#28,102), “agnostic” (#28,104), “accorded” (#28,101). Among 3,931 “A” headwords, “agar” is #28,103. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for agar is neighbouring look-alikes ("AR", "ago", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ˈeɪ.ɡə/. Frequency #28,103 among 3,931 “A” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for agar, with forms such as "aagr", "agarr", and "aggar". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "AR", "ago", "air", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Malay agar (“jelly”) or agar-agar. The correct English form is agar, spelled A-G-A-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A gelatinous substance obtained from red algae, especially Gracilaria species, used as a bacterial culture medium, in electrophoresis and as a food additive.
  2. 2
    A culture medium based on this material.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. An hour before, he had been in lab, removing from the incubator his boxes of agar plates.

Etymology

From Malay agar (“jelly”) or agar-agar.

This word in other languages

agar(Español)Agar(Deutsch)ágar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • aagr
  • agarr
  • aggar
  • gaar

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

aagr2agarr1aggar1gaar2
Edit distance from "agar"

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 "agar"?
"agar" is spelled A-G-A-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈeɪ.ɡə/.
What does "agar" mean?
As a noun, "agar" means: A gelatinous substance obtained from red algae, especially Gracilaria species, used as a bacterial culture medium, in electrophoresis and as a food additive.
What words are commonly confused with "agar"?
"agar" is commonly confused with "AR", "ago", "air". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "agar"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "agar" is /ˈeɪ.ɡə/. 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 "agar"?
From Malay agar (“jelly”) or agar-agar. 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 "agar", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Anya#28,117WNBA#28,088Waco#28,080twig#28,064

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list