co-worker

noun

"co-worker" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“co-worker” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
9
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Alternative spelling of coworker.

Corpus desk

Index EN-co-worker · co-worker · English

co-worker · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 9 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "C" thin
  • PHOTO-UNK Peer pending

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.

Key facts for co-worker
PropertyValue
Headwordco-worker
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters9
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “co-worker” in English

co-workersits beyond the 100,000 most-frequent English words, in the long tail of technical, archaic, or otherwise rare vocabulary where spelling doubt tends to strike hardest.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

co-worker is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "Alternative spelling of coworker.".

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for co-worker, and the word's spelling is regular enough that our generator found nothing worth flagging. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.

Etymologically, the entry records: From co- + worker. The correct English form is co-worker, spelled C-O---W-O-R-K-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Alternative spelling of coworker.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. After graduating from a Seoul university, Park's brother settled in the North Korean coastal town of Wonsan as a dentist in 1946. After the war broke out, Park was told by a co-worker that his brother refused to flee to the South because he had a family in the North and was a surgeon in the North Korean army.

Etymology

From co- + worker.

Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "co-worker"?
"co-worker" is spelled C-O---W-O-R-K-E-R.
What does "co-worker" mean?
As a noun, "co-worker" means: Alternative spelling of coworker.
What is the origin of the word "co-worker"?
From co- + worker. 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list