cheek
/t͡ʃiːk/
"cheek" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cheek” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #7,535 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #7,535
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The soft skin on each side of the face, below the eyes; the outer surface of the sides of the oral cavity.
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 | cheek |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /t͡ʃiːk/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #7,535 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cheek” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for cheek is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /t͡ʃiːk/. Corpus data places it at rank #7,535 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 9 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 cheek, with forms such as "ccheek", "cehek", and "cheekk". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "chef", "Chen", "chew", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English cheeke, cheke, cheoke, choke, from Old English ċēce, ċēace, ċēoce (“cheek; jaw”), from Proto-West Germanic *kākā, *keukā (“jaw, cheek”), from Proto-Germanic *kēkǭ, *keukǭ (“jaw; palate; pharynx”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ǵyewh₁… The correct English form is cheek, spelled C-H-E-E-K.
Definition
- 1The soft skin on each side of the face, below the eyes; the outer surface of the sides of the oral cavity.
- 2The lower part of the buttocks that is often exposed beneath very brief underwear, swimwear, or extremely short shorts.
- 3Impudence.
- 4One of the genae, flat areas on the sides of a trilobite's cephalon.
- 5One of the pieces of a machine, or of timber or stonework, that form corresponding sides or a similar pair.
- 6One of the pieces of a machine, or of timber or stonework, that form corresponding sides or a similar pair.
- 7The branches of a bridle bit.
- 8Either side of an axehead.
- 9The middle section of a flask, made so that it can be moved laterally, to permit the removal of the pattern from the mould.
Etymology
From Middle English cheeke, cheke, cheoke, choke, from Old English ċēce, ċēace, ċēoce (“cheek; jaw”), from Proto-West Germanic *kākā, *keukā (“jaw, cheek”), from Proto-Germanic *kēkǭ, *keukǭ (“jaw; palate; pharynx”), perhaps from Proto-Indo-European *ǵyewh₁- (“to chew”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Sooke (“cheek”), West Frisian tsjeak (“jaw”), Dutch kaak (“jaw; cheek”), Swedish käke (“jaw; jowl”), Norwegian kjake (“jaw”), Old Norse kók (“mouth; gullet”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccheek,cehek,cheekk,chek,cheke,chheek,hceek
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cheek - 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
How do you spell "cheek"?
What does "cheek" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "cheek"?
How do you pronounce "cheek"?
What is the origin of the word "cheek"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “cheek”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-H-E-E-K - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /t͡ʃiːk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “chef” - see the side-by-side comparison. cheek vs chef
- 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.