bunker

/ˈbʌŋ.kə/

//ˈbʌŋ.kə// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"bunker" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“bunker” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #11,660. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#11,660
frequency rank, English
4,121
“B” headwords
9
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A hardened shelter, often partly buried or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks.

Corpus desk

Index EN-bunker · bunker · English

bunker · rank #11,660 · 9 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #11,660
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 9 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,121
  • PHOTO-FINISH caffeine

Nearest frequency peer: caffeine (+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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “bunker”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “bunker” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

bunker vs buyer
67% similar
bunker vs burke
67% similar
bunker vs bunks
67% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for bunker
PropertyValue
Headwordbunker
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈbʌŋ.kə/
Letters6
Frequency rank#11,660
Misspellings tracked9
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “bunker”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).bunkerlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “caffeine” (#11,661), “borne” (#11,658), “capped” (#11,662). Among 4,121 “B” headwords, “bunker” is #11,660. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 9 spelling variants around bunker (IPA /ˈbʌŋ.kə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #11,660 among 4,121 “B” headwords. Wiktionary lists 9 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for bunker, with forms such as "bbunker", "bnuker", and "bukner". 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", "burke", "bunks", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: The origin of the noun is uncertain; the earliest sense is sense 6.1 (“box or chest, the lid of which serves as a seat”), from Scots bunker (“bench; pew; window-seat; sand pit (especially in golf); coal receptacle; sleeping berth, bunk”), from Early Scots b… The correct English form is bunker, spelled B-U-N-K-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A hardened shelter, often partly buried or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks.
  2. 2
    A compartment for storing coal for the ship's boilers; or a tank for storing fuel oil for the ship's engines.
  3. 3
    The coal compartment on a tank engine; it can also refer to that on a tender engine.
  4. 4
    Ellipsis of bunker oil (usually plural).
  5. 5
    A hazard on a golf course consisting of a sand-filled hollow.
  6. 6
    An obstacle used to block an opposing player's view and field of fire.
  7. 7
    A large bin or container for storing coal, often built outdoors in the yard of a house.
  8. 8
    A sort of box or chest, as in a window, the lid of which serves as a seat.
  9. 9
    A kitchen worktop.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how bunker appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. The military built a bunker to help evacuate the citizens safely from the bombings.
  2. Among tank engines, the 0-6-2 wheel arrangement was by far the most numerous, there being nearly 450 of this arrangement, which offers the advantage of good power and adhesive weight, coupled with adequate tank and bunker capacity, within a limited compass.

Etymology

The origin of the noun is uncertain; the earliest sense is sense 6.1 (“box or chest, the lid of which serves as a seat”), from Scots bunker (“bench; pew; window-seat; sand pit (especially in golf); coal receptacle; sleeping berth, bunk”), from Early Scots bunker, bunkur, bonker (“a chest or box, often serving as a seat”), probably from Old Norse bunki (“a heap”) (probably whence bunk (“sleeping berth in a ship, train, etc.”)), from Proto-Germanic *bunkô (“a heap, pile; a bump, lump, a crowd”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *bʰenǵʰ- (“thick”) or *bʰeg- (“to billow, swell; to arch, bend, curve (?)”). Compare Middle Low German bunge (“drum, container”), Middle High German bunge (“drum”). Sense 1 (“hardened shelter designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks”) was derived from German Bunker during World War II, which was itself from bunker (“large bin or container for storing coal”) (sense 5). The verb is derived from the noun.

This word in other languages

búnker(Español)bunker(Français)Bunker(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • bbunker
  • bnuker
  • bukner
  • bunekr
  • bunkerr
  • bunkker
  • bunkre
  • bunnker
  • ubnker

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

bbunker1bnuker2bukner2bunekr2bunkerr1bunkker1bunkre2bunnker1
Edit distance from "bunker"

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

How do you spell "bunker"?
"bunker" is spelled B-U-N-K-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈbʌŋ.kə/.
What does "bunker" mean?
As a noun, "bunker" means: A hardened shelter, often partly buried or fully underground, designed to protect the inhabitants from falling bombs or other attacks.
What words are commonly confused with "bunker"?
"bunker" is commonly confused with "buyer", "burke", "bunks". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "bunker"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "bunker" is /ˈbʌŋ.kə/. 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 "bunker"?
The origin of the noun is uncertain; the earliest sense is sense 6.1 (“box or chest, the lid of which serves as a seat”), from Scots bunker (“bench; pew; window-seat; sand pit (especially in golf); coal receptacle; sleeping berth, bunk”), from Ear... 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 "bunker", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

capped#11,662bakery#11,650advent#11,645coward#11,675

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).

caffeine9 variantsdepart9 variantsurging9 variantsfucker9 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list