dollar

/ˈdɒl.ə/

//ˈdɒl.ə// noun

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

"dollar" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“dollar” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,531. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,531
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
8
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Official designation for currency in some parts of the world, including Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and elsewhere. Its symbol is $.

Corpus desk

Index EN-dollar · dollar · English

dollar · rank #2,531 · 7 variants · 8 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,531
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 8 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH devices

Nearest frequency peer: devices (-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 “dollar”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “dollar” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

dollar vs dolly
67% similar
dollar vs dollop
67% similar
dollar vs dollars
86% similar

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

Key facts for dollar
PropertyValue
Headworddollar
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈdɒl.ə/
Letters6
Frequency rank#2,531
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs8
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “dollar”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).dollarlands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “devices” (#2,530), “dreams” (#2,532), “deserve” (#2,529). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “dollar” is #2,531. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around dollar (IPA /ˈdɒl.ə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,531 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for dollar, with forms such as "ddollar", "dlolar", and "dolalr". 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 8 confusable-pair relationships, "dolly", "dollop", "dollars", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Attested since the mid-16th century, from early Dutch daler, daalder, from German Taler, Thaler (“dollar”), earlier Joachimsthaler, literally “of Joachimstal”, the town where the original dollars were minted. The name means “(Saint) Joachim's valley”, from … The correct English form is dollar, spelled D-O-L-L-A-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    Official designation for currency in some parts of the world, including Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and elsewhere. Its symbol is $.
  2. 2
    Money generally.
  3. 3
    A ringgit, a unit of currency in Malaysia.
  4. 4
    A quarter of a pound or one crown, historically minted as a coin of approximately the same size and composition as a then-contemporary dollar coin of the United States, and worth slightly more.
  5. 5
    Imported from the United States, and paid for in U.S. dollars. (Note: distinguish "dollar wheat", North American farmers' slogan, meaning a market price of one dollar per bushel.)
  6. 6
    A unit of reactivity equal to the interval between delayed criticality and prompt criticality.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. But poverty’s scourge is fiercest below $1.25 (the average of the 15 poorest countries’ own poverty lines, measured in 2005 dollars and adjusted for differences in purchasing power): people below that level live lives that are poor, nasty, brutish and short.
  2. Yeah, but why? Lincoln doesn’t need the penny for notoriety. He’s everywhere. We put him on novelty bandages, cup-and-ball games, and creepy Chia Pets. And you know where else we put him? The five-dollar bill! You know, the thing that’s worth 500 times more than the penny!

Etymology

Attested since the mid-16th century, from early Dutch daler, daalder, from German Taler, Thaler (“dollar”), earlier Joachimsthaler, literally “of Joachimstal”, the town where the original dollars were minted. The name means “(Saint) Joachim's valley”, from Joachim + Tal. Possibly reinforced by the Dutch leeuwendaalder, which was also used in the American colonies. Doublet of taler /thaler and tolar.

This word in other languages

dólar(Español)dollar(Français)Dollar(Deutsch)dólar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddollar
  • dlolar
  • dolalr
  • dolar
  • dollarr
  • dollra
  • odllar

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ddollar1dlolar2dolalr2dolar1dollarr1dollra2odllar2
Edit distance from "dollar"

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 "dollar"?
"dollar" is spelled D-O-L-L-A-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈdɒl.ə/.
What does "dollar" mean?
As a noun, "dollar" means: Official designation for currency in some parts of the world, including Canada, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, Singapore, Hong Kong, and elsewhere. Its symbol is $.
What words are commonly confused with "dollar"?
"dollar" is commonly confused with "dolly", "dollop", "dollars". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "dollar"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "dollar" is /ˈdɒl.ə/. 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 "dollar"?
Attested since the mid-16th century, from early Dutch daler, daalder, from German Taler, Thaler (“dollar”), earlier Joachimsthaler, literally “of Joachimstal”, the town where the original dollars were minted. The name means “(Saint) Joachim's vall... 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 "dollar", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

dreams#2,532danger#2,526fucked#2,538gender#2,539

Similar misspelling depth

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

deals7 variantsfaces7 variantskinda7 variantsmoves7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list