foreman
/ˈfɔː(ɹ).mən/
"foreman" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“foreman” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #13,349 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #13,349
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 9
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The leader of a work crew.
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 | foreman |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈfɔː(ɹ).mən/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #13,349 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 9 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “foreman” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for foreman is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈfɔː(ɹ).mən/. Corpus data places it at rank #13,349 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for foreman, with forms such as "fforeman", "foerman", and "foreamn". 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 9 confusable-pair relationships, "format", "formal", "Furman", 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 foremon, forman. Compare West Frisian foarman, Dutch voorman, German Vormann, Danish formand, Swedish förman, Icelandic formaður. By surface analysis, fore- + man. The correct English form is foreman, spelled F-O-R-E-M-A-N.
Definition
- 1The leader of a work crew.
- 2The member of a jury who presides over it and speaks on its behalf.
- 3A slave assistant to the white overseer who managed field hands.
Etymology
From Middle English foremon, forman. Compare West Frisian foarman, Dutch voorman, German Vormann, Danish formand, Swedish förman, Icelandic formaður. By surface analysis, fore- + man.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: fforeman,foerman,foreamn,foremann,foremman,foremna,formean,forreman,froeman,ofreman
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of foreman - 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
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Using “foreman”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is F-O-R-E-M-A-N - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈfɔː(ɹ).mən/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “format” - see the side-by-side comparison. foreman vs format
- 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.