dagger
/ˈdæɡə/
"dagger" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“dagger” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #14,101. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #14,101
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 10
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A stabbing weapon, similar to a sword but with a short, double-edged blade.
Corpus desk
Index EN-dagger · dagger · English
dagger · rank #14,101 · 7 variants · 10 confusables
- FREQ-MID #14,101
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 10 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH CW
Nearest frequency peer: CW (-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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “dagger”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- Crosby
Crosby
85,903 corpus weight
- Cunningham
Cunningham
85,902 corpus weight
- CW
CW
85,901 corpus weight
- dagger
dagger
85,900 corpus weight
- dealings
dealings
85,899 corpus weight
- deferred
deferred
85,898 corpus weight
What this shows “dagger” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | dagger |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdæɡə/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #14,101 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 10 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “dagger”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around dagger (IPA /ˈdæɡə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #14,101 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for dagger, with forms such as "adgger", "dagegr", and "dager". 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 10 confusable-pair relationships, "danger", "dancer", "darker", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English daggere, daggare, dagard, probably adapted from Old French dague (1229), related to Occitan, Italian, Spanish daga, Dutch dagge, German Degen, Middle Low German dagge (“knife's point”), Old Norse daggarðr, Danish daggert, Faroese daggari… The correct English form is dagger, spelled D-A-G-G-E-R.
Definition
- 1A stabbing weapon, similar to a sword but with a short, double-edged blade.
- 2The typographical mark †.
- 3A point scored near the end of the game (clutch time) to take or increase the scorer's team lead, so that they are likely to win.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how dagger appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The dagger, under the title cultellum and misericorde, has been the constant companion of the sword, at least from the days of Edward I. and is mentioned in the statute of Winchester.
His last-minute 3-point dagger silenced the criticism for his so-called failure to come up big in big moments.
Etymology
From Middle English daggere, daggare, dagard, probably adapted from Old French dague (1229), related to Occitan, Italian, Spanish daga, Dutch dagge, German Degen, Middle Low German dagge (“knife's point”), Old Norse daggarðr, Danish daggert, Faroese daggari, Welsh dager, dagr, Breton dac, Albanian thikë (“a knife, dagger”), thek (“to stab, to pierce with a sharp object”). In English attested from the 1380s. The ultimate origin of the word is unclear. Grimm suspects Celtic origin. Others have suggested derivation from an unattested Vulgar Latin *daca "Dacian [knife]", from the Latin adjective dācus. Chastelain (Dictionaire etymologique, 1750) thought that French dague was a derivation from German dagge, dagen, although not attested until a much later date). The knightly dagger evolves from the 12th century. Guillaume le Breton (died 1226) uses daca in his Philippide. Other Middle Latin forms include daga, dagga, dagha, dagger, daggerius, daggerium, dagarium, dagarius, diga; the forms with -r- are late 14th century adoptions of the English word). OED points out that there is also an English verb dag (“to stab”) from which this could be a derivation, but the verb is attested only from about 1400. Relation to Old Armenian դակու (daku, “adze, axe”) has also been suggested. Alternatively, a connection from Proto-Indo-European *dʰāg-u- and cognate with Ancient Greek θήγω (thḗgō, “to sharpen, whet”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- adgger
- dagegr
- dager
- daggerr
- daggre
- ddagger
- dgager
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of dagger - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "dagger"?
What does "dagger" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "dagger"?
How do you pronounce "dagger"?
What is the origin of the word "dagger"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "dagger", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).