ashtray
/ˈæʃ.tɹeɪ/
"ashtray" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ashtray” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #40,559. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #40,559
- frequency rank, English
- 3,931
- “A” headwords
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 3
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A receptacle for ash and butts from cigarettes and cigars.
Corpus desk
Index EN-ashtray · ashtray · English
ashtray · rank #40,559 · 11 variants · 3 confusables
- FREQ-MID #40,559
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 3 pairs
- VAR-MID 11 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,931
- PHOTO-FINISH askew
Nearest frequency peer: askew (+2 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 “ashtray”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- anchovies
anchovies
59,446 corpus weight
- Anjali
Anjali
59,445 corpus weight
- ashtray
ashtray
59,442 corpus weight
- askew
askew
59,440 corpus weight
- Assyria
Assyria
59,438 corpus weight
- Astana
Astana
59,437 corpus weight
What this shows “ashtray” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | ashtray |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈæʃ.tɹeɪ/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #40,559 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 3 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “ashtray”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 11 spelling variants around ashtray (IPA /ˈæʃ.tɹeɪ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #40,559 among 3,931 “A” headwords. Dominant gloss: "A receptacle for ash and butts from cigarettes and cigars.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for ashtray, with forms such as "ahstray", "ashhtray", and "ashrtay". 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 3 confusable-pair relationships, "astral", "astray", "ashram", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs-der.? Proto-Germanic *askǭ Proto-West Germanic *askā Old English æsce Middle English asshe English ash Proto-Germanic *trawją Proto-West Germanic *trawi Old English trēġ Middle English trey English tray English asht… The correct English form is ashtray, spelled A-S-H-T-R-A-Y.
Definition
- 1A receptacle for ash and butts from cigarettes and cigars.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how ashtray appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Near-synonym: ash stand
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *h₂eHs-der.? Proto-Germanic *askǭ Proto-West Germanic *askā Old English æsce Middle English asshe English ash Proto-Germanic *trawją Proto-West Germanic *trawi Old English trēġ Middle English trey English tray English ashtray From ash + tray. Compare German Aschenbecher.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ahstray
- ashhtray
- ashrtay
- ashtary
- ashtrayy
- ashtrray
- ashtrya
- ashttray
- asshtray
- asthray
- sahtray
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ashtray - 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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ashtray", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).