badger
/ˈbæd͡ʒə/
"badger" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“badger” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #15,342 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #15,342
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any mammal belonging to the genera Meles, Arctonyx, Mellivora and Taxidea.
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 | badger |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbæd͡ʒə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #15,342 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “badger” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for badger is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbæd͡ʒə/. Corpus data places it at rank #15,342 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 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 badger, with forms such as "abdger", "baddger", and "badegr". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "baker", "Bauer", "barge", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English bageard (“marked by a badge”), from bage (“badge”), referring to the animal's badge-like white blaze, equivalent to badge + -ard. Displaced earlier brock, from Old English brocc. The correct English form is badger, spelled B-A-D-G-E-R.
Definition
- 1Any mammal belonging to the genera Meles, Arctonyx, Mellivora and Taxidea.
- 2A native or resident of the American state, Wisconsin.
- 3A brush made of badger hair.
- 4A gang of robbers who robbed near rivers, into which they threw the bodies of those they murdered.
- 5A person who is very fond of cricket.
Etymology
From Middle English bageard (“marked by a badge”), from bage (“badge”), referring to the animal's badge-like white blaze, equivalent to badge + -ard. Displaced earlier brock, from Old English brocc.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: abdger,baddger,badegr,badgerr,badgger,badgre,bagder,bbadger,bdager
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of badger - 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 “badger”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-A-D-G-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbæd͡ʒə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “baker” - see the side-by-side comparison. badger vs baker
- 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.