bugger
/ˈbʌɡə/
"bugger" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“bugger” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #28,855 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #28,855
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A heretic.
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 | bugger |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈbʌɡə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #28,855 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “bugger” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for bugger is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈbʌɡə/. Corpus data places it at rank #28,855 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for bugger, with forms such as "bbugger", "bguger", and "bugegr". 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 also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "buyer", "buggy", "bulge", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English bougre (“heretic”), from Old French bougre, from Medieval Latin Bulgarus (“Bulgar”), from Old Church Slavonic блъгаринъ (blŭgarinŭ, “Bulgarian”), used in designation of heretics (especially the Bogomils, who arose around the 10th century… The correct English form is bugger, spelled B-U-G-G-E-R.
Definition
- 1A heretic.
- 2Someone who commits buggery; a sodomite.
- 3A foolish or worthless person or thing; a despicable person.
- 4A situation that is aggravating or causes dismay; a pain.
- 5Someone viewed with affection; a chap.
- 6A damn, anything at all.
- 7Someone who is very fond of something
- 8A whippersnapper, a tyke.
Etymology
From Middle English bougre (“heretic”), from Old French bougre, from Medieval Latin Bulgarus (“Bulgar”), from Old Church Slavonic блъгаринъ (blŭgarinŭ, “Bulgarian”), used in designation of heretics (especially the Bogomils, who arose around the 10th century AD in the First Bulgarian Empire), to whom various sexual practices such as anal sex were ascribed. Doublet of Bulgar.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bbugger,bguger,bugegr,buger,buggerr,buggre,ubgger
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of bugger - 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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Using “bugger”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-U-G-G-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈbʌɡə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “buyer” - see the side-by-side comparison. bugger vs buyer
- 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.