digger
/ˈdɪɡɚ/
"digger" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“digger” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #23,240 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #23,240
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 14
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A large piece of machinery that digs holes or trenches.
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 | digger |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈdɪɡɚ/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #23,240 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 14 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “digger” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for digger is 6 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈdɪɡɚ/. Corpus data places it at rank #23,240 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 8 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for digger, with forms such as "ddigger", "dgiger", and "digegr". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 14 confusable-pair relationships, "diner", "diver", "Diggs", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English dyggar, equivalent to dig + -er. In the sense of "Australian soldier", attributed to the considerable time that soldiers spent digging trenches during World War I. The correct English form is digger, spelled D-I-G-G-E-R.
Definition
- 1A large piece of machinery that digs holes or trenches.
- 2A tool for digging.
- 3A spade (playing card).
- 4One who digs.
- 5A gold miner, one who digs for gold.
- 6An Australian soldier.
- 7a friendly term of address, especially to a man.
- 8A member of any Native American people in the western United States, especially Native Californians.
Etymology
From Middle English dyggar, equivalent to dig + -er. In the sense of "Australian soldier", attributed to the considerable time that soldiers spent digging trenches during World War I.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: ddigger,dgiger,digegr,diger,diggerr,diggre,idgger
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of digger - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 "digger"?
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Using “digger”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-I-G-G-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈdɪɡɚ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “diner” - see the side-by-side comparison. digger vs diner
- 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.