burke
/bɜː(ɹ)k/
"burke" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“burke” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #8,645 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #8,645
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To murder by suffocation.
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 | burke |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /bɜː(ɹ)k/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #8,645 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “burke” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for burke is 5 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /bɜː(ɹ)k/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,645 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 3 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 burke, with forms such as "bburke", "bruke", and "bukre". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "burn", "bury", "Burt", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Eponymous, from William Burke. The correct English form is burke, spelled B-U-R-K-E.
Definition
- 1To murder by suffocation.
- 2To murder for the same purpose as Burke, to kill in order to have a body to sell to anatomists, surgeons, etc.
- 3To smother; to conceal, hush up, suppress.
Etymology
Eponymous, from William Burke.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: bburke,bruke,bukre,burek,burkke,burrke,ubrke
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of burke - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “burke”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is B-U-R-K-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /bɜː(ɹ)k/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “burn” - see the side-by-side comparison. burke vs burn
- 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.