cheek
Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.
Letters
5 characters
Language
English
word origin
Source
Wiktionary
open dictionary
Access
Free
no sign-up needed
Detailed reference entry for the English word "cheek", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "cheek" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "cheek" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.
cheek is aEnglishnoun. It means: The soft skin on each side of the face, below the eyes; the outer surface of the sides of the oral cavity. Pronounced /t͡ʃiːk/. It ranks #7,535 in English word frequency. Often confused with chef and Chen.
| 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) |
Frequency rank visualization
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for cheek is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, 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 Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for cheek, with forms such as "ccheek", "cehek", and "cheekk". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, 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, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
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… Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is cheek, spelled C-H-E-E-K, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.
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
Relative frequency of common misspelling types for cheek
Misspelling Variants of "cheek"
Frequency rank: #7,535 in English
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?
Nearby English words
Other entries that begin with the letter C in our English index: