flutter
/ˈflʌtə/
"flutter" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“flutter” has 9 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #26,795. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #26,795
- frequency rank, English
- 2,507
- “F” headwords
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 9
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To flap or wave quickly but irregularly.
Corpus desk
Index EN-flutter · flutter · English
flutter · rank #26,795 · 9 variants · 9 confusables
- FREQ-MID #26,795
- LEN-LONG 7 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 9 pairs
- VAR-MID 9 variants
- BOOK-MID 2,507
- PHOTO-FINISH flamingo
Nearest frequency peer: flamingo (-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 “flutter”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- flak
flak
73,209 corpus weight
- flamboyant
flamboyant
73,208 corpus weight
- flamingo
flamingo
73,207 corpus weight
- flutter
flutter
73,206 corpus weight
- foodie
foodie
73,205 corpus weight
- foolishness
foolishness
73,204 corpus weight
What this shows “flutter” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | flutter |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈflʌtə/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #26,795 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 9 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “flutter”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 9 spelling variants around flutter (IPA /ˈflʌtə/), averb. Corpus frequency is #26,795 among 2,507 “F” headwords. Wiktionary lists 8 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for flutter, with forms such as "fflutter", "fllutter", and "fltuter". 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 9 confusable-pair relationships, "flute", "fatter", "fitter", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English floteren, from Old English floterian, flotorian (“to float about, flutter”), from Proto-Germanic *flutrōną, frequentative of Proto-Germanic *flutōną (“to float”), equivalent to float + -er (frequentative suffix). Cognate with West Frisia… The correct English form is flutter, spelled F-L-U-T-T-E-R.
Definition
- 1To flap or wave quickly but irregularly.
- 2Of a winged animal: to flap the wings without flying; to fly with a light flapping of the wings.
- 3To undergo divergent oscillations (potentially to the point of causing structural failure) due to a positive feedback loop between elastic deformation and aerodynamic forces.
- 4To cause something to flap.
- 5To drive into disorder; to throw into confusion.
- 6To be in a state of agitation or uncertainty.
- 7To be frivolous.
- 8To subject to a lie detector test.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how flutter appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
flags fluttering in the wind
Long after his cigar burnt bitter, he sat with eyes fixed on the blaze. When the flames at last began to flicker and subside, his lids fluttered, then drooped ; but he had lost all reckoning of time when he opened them again to find Miss Erroll in furs and ball-gown kneeling on the hearth and heaping kindling on the coals, [...]
Etymology
From Middle English floteren, from Old English floterian, flotorian (“to float about, flutter”), from Proto-Germanic *flutrōną, frequentative of Proto-Germanic *flutōną (“to float”), equivalent to float + -er (frequentative suffix). Cognate with West Frisian flodderje (“to flutter, beat”), Dutch flodderen (“to flutter, wave”), Low German fluttern, fluddern (“to flutter”), German flittern (“to sparkle, glitter”). More at float.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- fflutter
- fllutter
- fltuter
- fluter
- flutetr
- flutterr
- fluttre
- fultter
- lfutter
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of flutter - 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.
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 "flutter"?
What does "flutter" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "flutter"?
How do you pronounce "flutter"?
What is the origin of the word "flutter"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "flutter", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (9 here; floor ≥5).