drown

/dɹaʊn/

//dɹaʊn// verb

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

"drown" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“drown” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #11,534. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#11,534
frequency rank, English
3,470
“D” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To die from suffocation while immersed in water or other fluid.

Corpus desk

Index EN-drown · drown · English

drown · rank #11,534 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #11,534
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,470
  • PHOTO-FINISH displaying

Nearest frequency peer: displaying (-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 “drown”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “drown” 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).

drown vs drowns
83% similar
drown vs drowsy
67% similar
drown vs drowned
71% similar

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

Key facts for drown
PropertyValue
Headworddrown
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/dɹaʊn/
Letters5
Frequency rank#11,534
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “drown”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).drownlands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “displaying” (#11,533), “drummer” (#11,535), “disastrous” (#11,532). Among 3,470 “D” headwords, “drown” is #11,534. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around drown (IPA /dɹaʊn/), averb. Corpus frequency is #11,534 among 3,470 “D” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for drown, with forms such as "ddrown", "dorwn", and "dronw". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "drowns", "drowsy", "drowned", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English drownen, drounen, drunen (“to drown”), of obscure and uncertain origin. The OED suggests an unattested Old English form *drūnian. Harper 2001 points to Old English druncnian, ġedruncnian (> Middle English drunknen, dronknen (“to drown”))… The correct English form is drown, spelled D-R-O-W-N.

Definition

  1. 1
    To die from suffocation while immersed in water or other fluid.
  2. 2
    To kill by suffocating in water or another liquid.
  3. 3
    To be flooded: to be inundated with or submerged in (literally) water or (figuratively) other things; to be overwhelmed.
  4. 4
    To inundate, submerge, overwhelm.
  5. 5
    To obscure, particularly amid an overwhelming volume of other items.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. When I was a baby, I nearly drowned in the bathtub.
  2. Old woes, not infant sorrows, bear them mild / Continuance tames the one; the other wild, / Like an unpractised swimmer plunging still, / With too much labour drowns for want of skill.

Etymology

From Middle English drownen, drounen, drunen (“to drown”), of obscure and uncertain origin. The OED suggests an unattested Old English form *drūnian. Harper 2001 points to Old English druncnian, ġedruncnian (> Middle English drunknen, dronknen (“to drown”)), "probably influenced" by Old Norse drukkna (cf. Icelandic drukkna, Danish drukne (“to drown”)). Funk & Wagnall's has 'of uncertain origin'. It has been theorised (see e.g. ODS) that it may represent a direct loan of Old Norse drukkna, but this is described by the OED as being "on phonetic and other grounds [...] highly improbable", unless one considers the possibility of an unattested variant in Old Norse *drunkna.

Synonyms

noyadefloodinundate

This word in other languages

ahogarse(Español)se noyer(Français)ertrinken(Deutsch)afogar(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • ddrown
  • dorwn
  • dronw
  • drownn
  • drowwn
  • drrown
  • drwon
  • rdown

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

ddrown1dorwn2dronw2drownn1drowwn1drrown1drwon2rdown2
Edit distance from "drown"

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 "drown"?
"drown" is spelled D-R-O-W-N. The IPA pronunciation is /dɹaʊn/.
What does "drown" mean?
As a verb, "drown" means: To die from suffocation while immersed in water or other fluid.
What words are commonly confused with "drown"?
"drown" is commonly confused with "drowns", "drowsy", "drowned". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "drown"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "drown" is /dɹaʊn/. 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 "drown"?
From Middle English drownen, drounen, drunen (“to drown”), of obscure and uncertain origin. The OED suggests an unattested Old English form *drūnian. Harper 2001 points to Old English druncnian, ġedruncnian (> Middle English drunknen, dronknen (“t... 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 "drown", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

clone#11,518Byron#11,515jewel#11,562obese#11,573

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

Gerard8 variantsboiled8 variantsrevive8 variantsscarf8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list