emery
/ˈɛməɹi/
"emery" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“emery” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #19,583 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #19,583
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 19
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - An impure type of corundum, often used for sanding or polishing.
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 | emery |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɛməɹi/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #19,583 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 19 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “emery” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for emery is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈɛməɹi/. Corpus data places it at rank #19,583 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "An impure type of corundum, often used for sanding or polishing.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for emery, with forms such as "eemry", "emerry", and "emeryy". 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 19 confusable-pair relationships, "ever", "Emmy", "emir", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French émeri, from Old French esmeril, from Italian smeriglio. The correct English form is emery, spelled E-M-E-R-Y.
Definition
- 1An impure type of corundum, often used for sanding or polishing.
Etymology
From French émeri, from Old French esmeril, from Italian smeriglio.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: eemry,emerry,emeryy,emeyr,emmery,emrey,meery
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of emery - 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 "emery"?
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Using “emery”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is E-M-E-R-Y - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈɛməɹi/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “ever” - see the side-by-side comparison. emery vs ever
- 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.