berserk
/ˈbɜːsɜːk/
"berserk" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“berserk” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #28,464. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #28,464
- frequency rank, English
- 31,241
- “B” headwords
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Synonym of berserker (“a Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy”).
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 | berserk |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbɜːsɜːk/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #28,464 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “berserk” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 11 spelling variants around berserk (IPA /ˈbɜːsɜːk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #28,464 among 31,241 “B” headwords. Dominant gloss: "Synonym of berserker (“a Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy”).".
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for berserk, with forms such as "bberserk", "beresrk", and "berrserk". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "Berber", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is borrowed from Old Norse berserkr (“Norse warrior who fights in a frenzy”), probably from bjǫrn (“bear”) + serkr (“coat; shirt”), referring to the bearskins which the warriors wore. Bjǫrn is possibly ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *b… The correct English form is berserk, spelled B-E-R-S-E-R-K.
Definition
- 1Synonym of berserker (“a Norse warrior who fought in a frenzy”).
Etymology
The noun is borrowed from Old Norse berserkr (“Norse warrior who fights in a frenzy”), probably from bjǫrn (“bear”) + serkr (“coat; shirt”), referring to the bearskins which the warriors wore. Bjǫrn is possibly ultimately derived from Proto-Indo-European *bʰerH- (“brown”); and serkr from Proto-Indo-European *ser- (“to bind, tie together; thread”). Alternatively, it has been suggested that the first element of the word is from berr (“bare, naked”), referring to warriors who went into battle without armour, but this is now thought unlikely. Doublet of berserker. The adjective is derived from the noun. The verb might partly be a back-formation from berserker, analyzed as containing the suffix -er. Cognates * Icelandic berserkur * Norwegian Bokmål berserk * Norwegian Nynorsk berserk * Swedish bärsärk
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- bberserk
- beresrk
- berrserk
- bersekr
- berserkk
- berserrk
- bersrek
- bersserk
- besrerk
- breserk
- ebrserk
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of berserk - 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 “berserk”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-E-R-S-E-R-K - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbɜːsɜːk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “Berber” - see the side-by-side comparison. berserk vs Berber
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Same frequency band
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.