der
/dɜː/
"der" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“der” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #5,491 in English word frequency and used as an interjection.
- #5,491
- frequency rank, English
- 3
- letters
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Disdainful indication that something is obvious.
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 | der |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Interjection |
| IPA | /dɜː/ |
| Letters | 3 |
| Frequency rank | #5,491 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “der” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for der is 3 letters long, classified as an interjection, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dɜː/. Corpus data places it at rank #5,491 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
No generated misspelling entries exist for der in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "do", "Dr", "di", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: Imitative. Compare dur. The correct English form is der, spelled D-E-R.
Definition
- 1Disdainful indication that something is obvious.
- 2Indication of stupidity.
Etymology
Imitative. Compare dur.
Synonyms
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 “der”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /dɜː/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “do” - see the side-by-side comparison. der vs do
- 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.