beleaguered

Name: beleaguered, English Word Data
Creator: Wiktionary
License: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

/bɪˈliːɡəd/

//bɪˈliːɡəd// adj

By PlainSpell · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) · analyzed May 6, 2026

The verdict

“beleaguered” has 15 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #40,145. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#40,145
frequency rank, English: 31,241
“B” headwords: 15
tracked misspellings

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Besieged; surrounded by enemy troops.

Corpus desk

Index EN-beleaguered · beleaguered · English

beleaguered · rank #40,145 · 15 variants · 0 confusables

FREQ-MID #40,145
LEN-MEGA 11 letters
VOW-6 6 vowels
CONFUS-0 No pairs
VAR-HIGH 15 variants
BOOK-DENSE 31,241
PHOTO-FINISH begotten

Nearest frequency peer: begotten (-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.

beaux

59,859
beeps

59,858
begotten

59,857
beleaguered

59,856
Bennie

59,855
bicarbonate

59,853

What this shows Bars show where “beleaguered” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Key facts for beleaguered
Property	Value
Headword	beleaguered
Language	English
Part of speech	Adjective
IPA	/bɪˈliːɡəd/
Letters	11
Frequency rank	#40,145
Misspellings tracked	15
Confusable pairs	0
Source	Wiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “beleaguered” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). beleaguered lands here:

#40,145

#1#100#1K#10K#100K

← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 15 spelling variants around beleaguered (IPA /bɪˈliːɡəd/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #40,145 among 31,241 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 15 likely wrong-spelling variants for beleaguered, with forms such as "bbeleaguered", "beelaguered", and "belaeguered". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From beleaguer + -ed. The correct English form is beleaguered, spelled B-E-L-E-A-G-U-E-R-E-D.

Definition

1
Besieged; surrounded by enemy troops.
2
Beset by trouble or difficulty.

Etymology

From beleaguer + -ed.

Antonyms

unbeleaguered

This word in other languages

asediado(Español)en difficulté(Français)belagert(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

bbeleaguered
beelaguered
belaeguered
beleageured
beleagguered
beleagueerd
beleaguerde
beleagueredd
beleaguerred
beleagureed
beleaugered
belegauered
belleaguered
bleeaguered
ebleaguered

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

Edit distance from "beleaguered"

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "beleaguered"?

"beleaguered" is spelled B-E-L-E-A-G-U-E-R-E-D. The IPA pronunciation is /bɪˈliːɡəd/.

What does "beleaguered" mean?

As an adjective, "beleaguered" means: Besieged; surrounded by enemy troops.

What are common misspellings of "beleaguered"?

Common misspellings include "bbeleaguered", "beelaguered", "belaeguered", "beleageured", "beleagguered". The correct spelling is "beleaguered".

How do you pronounce "beleaguered"?

The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "beleaguered" is /bɪˈliːɡəd/. 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 "beleaguered"?

From beleaguer + -ed. 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 "beleaguered", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

bicarbonate#40,148 Christendom#40,174 commonality#40,178 contactless#40,184

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (15 here; floor ≥5).

dishonored15 variants trampling15 variants fanaticism15 variants fingernail15 variants

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.