couch

/kaʊt͡ʃ/

//kaʊt͡ʃ// noun

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

"couch" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“couch” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,407. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#5,407
frequency rank, English
5,599
“C” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An item of furniture, often upholstered, for the comfortable seating of more than one person; a sofa.

Corpus desk

Index EN-couch · couch · English

couch · rank #5,407 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #5,407
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 5,599
  • PHOTO-FINISH corporations

Nearest frequency peer: corporations (-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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “couch”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “couch” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

couch vs coup
60% similar
couch vs cour
60% similar
couch vs cuck
60% similar

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

Key facts for couch
PropertyValue
Headwordcouch
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/kaʊt͡ʃ/
Letters5
Frequency rank#5,407
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “couch” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). couch lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around couch (IPA /kaʊt͡ʃ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,407 among 5,599 “C” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for couch, with forms such as "ccouch", "cocuh", and "coucch". 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, "coup", "cour", "cuck", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English couche, cowche, from Old French couche, from the verb (see below). Doublet of cwtch. The correct English form is couch, spelled C-O-U-C-H.

Definition

  1. 1
    An item of furniture, often upholstered, for the comfortable seating of more than one person; a sofa.
  2. 2
    A bed, a resting-place.
  3. 3
    The den of an otter.
  4. 4
    A preliminary layer, as of colour or size.
  5. 5
    A mass of steeped barley spread upon a floor to germinate, in malting; or the floor occupied by the barley.
  6. 6
    Psychotherapy.
  7. 7
    Voters who opt out of voting, usually by staying home on their couch.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. At a casting workshop, an actor was performing a blank scene […] and he had not bothered to make any choices about why he was on stage, what his motivation was, what he was playing. He had decided who he was and where he was (on a couch with his girlfriend) but had not decided what he wanted. So the performance was flat and lifeless.
  2. […] I want to try to describe my efforts to take psychoanalysis as a method off the couch and into the work of creating and using a political conference table.

Etymology

From Middle English couche, cowche, from Old French couche, from the verb (see below). Doublet of cwtch.

Synonyms

davenportdivansetteesofa

This word in other languages

sofá(Español)sofa(Français)Sofa(Deutsch)sofá(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ccouch
  • cocuh
  • coucch
  • couchh
  • couhc
  • cuoch
  • ocuch

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ccouch1cocuh2coucch1couchh1couhc2cuoch2ocuch2
Edit distance from "couch"

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "couch"?
"couch" is spelled C-O-U-C-H. The IPA pronunciation is /kaʊt͡ʃ/.
What does "couch" mean?
As a noun, "couch" means: An item of furniture, often upholstered, for the comfortable seating of more than one person; a sofa.
What words are commonly confused with "couch"?
"couch" is commonly confused with "coup", "cour", "cuck". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "couch"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "couch" is /kaʊt͡ʃ/. 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 "couch"?
From Middle English couche, cowche, from Old French couche, from the verb (see below). Doublet of cwtch. 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 "couch", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

crush#5,409chuck#5,399fears#5,416fires#5,417

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

genre7 variantsbarrel7 variantsKeith7 variantsverse7 variants

What to do next

You've looked up "couch". Here's where to go from here.

  • "couch" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "coup". View pair
  • 7 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #5,407 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "C" letter cohort. C–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list