cursor
/ˈkɜːsə/
"cursor" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“cursor” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #25,726 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #25,726
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 8
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A part of any of several scientific or measuring instruments that moves back and forth to indicate a position.
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 | cursor |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈkɜːsə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #25,726 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 8 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “cursor” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for cursor is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈkɜːsə/. Corpus data places it at rank #25,726 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for cursor, with forms such as "ccursor", "crusor", and "curosr". 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 8 confusable-pair relationships, "cursory", "curse", "Corso", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Borrowed from Latin cursor (“runner”), from currō (“run”) + -or (agentive suffix). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European. The correct English form is cursor, spelled C-U-R-S-O-R.
Definition
- 1A part of any of several scientific or measuring instruments that moves back and forth to indicate a position.
- 2A moving icon or other representation, usually called a pointer, of the position of the pointing device.
- 3An indicator, often a blinking line or bar, indicating where the next insertion or other edit will take place.
- 4A reference to a row of data in a table, which moves from row to row as data is retrieved by way of it.
- 5A design pattern in object oriented methodology in which a collection is iterated uniformly.
Etymology
Borrowed from Latin cursor (“runner”), from currō (“run”) + -or (agentive suffix). Ultimately from Proto-Indo-European.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ccursor,crusor,curosr,currsor,cursorr,cursro,curssor,cusror,ucrsor
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of cursor - 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
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Using “cursor”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is C-U-R-S-O-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈkɜːsə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “cursory” - see the side-by-side comparison. cursor vs cursory
- 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.