job

/dʒɒb/

//dʒɒb// noun

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

"job" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“job” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #296) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#296
frequency rank, English
796
“J” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A task.

Corpus desk

Index EN-job · job · English

job · rank #296 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #296
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 796
  • PHOTO-FINISH far

Nearest frequency peer: far (-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.

Frequency neighbours of confusable “job”

Peers at similar corpus weight, separate from look-alike pairs below

corpus weight

What this shows Bars place “job” against nearest ranked English headwords, not a reprint of the confusable-pair desk.

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).

job vs Jr
0% similar
job vs Ju
0% similar
job vs JV
0% similar

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

Key facts for job
PropertyValue
Headwordjob
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/dʒɒb/
Letters3
Frequency rank#296
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Corpus rank beside confusables of “job”

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “far” (#295), “side” (#297), “came” (#294). Among 796 “J” headwords, “job” is #296. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for job is neighbouring look-alikes ("Jr", "Ju", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /dʒɒb/. Frequency #296 among 796 “J” headwords. 11 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for job, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "Jr", "Ju", "JV", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From the phrase jobbe of work (“piece of work”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a variant of Middle English gobbe (“mass, lump”); or perhaps related to Middle English jobben (“to jab, thrust, peck”), or Middle English choppe (“piece, bargain”). More at g… The correct English form is job, spelled J-O-B.

Definition

  1. 1
    A task.
  2. 2
    An economic role for which a person is paid.
  3. 3
    Plastic surgery.
  4. 4
    A sex act.
  5. 5
    A task, or series of tasks, carried out in batch mode (especially on a mainframe computer).
  6. 6
    A public transaction done for private profit; something performed ostensibly as a part of official duty, but really for private gain; a corrupt official business.
  7. 7
    A robbery or heist.
  8. 8
    Any affair or event which affects one, whether fortunately or unfortunately.
  9. 9
    A thing or whatsit (often used in a vague way to refer to something whose name one cannot recall).
  10. 10
    The police as a profession, act of policing, or an individual police officer.
  11. 11
    A penis.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. I've got a job for you: could you wash the dishes?
  2. And it's my job to take care of the skanks on the road that you bang.

Etymology

From the phrase jobbe of work (“piece of work”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a variant of Middle English gobbe (“mass, lump”); or perhaps related to Middle English jobben (“to jab, thrust, peck”), or Middle English choppe (“piece, bargain”). More at gob, jab, chop.

This word in other languages

tarea(Español)tâche(Français)Aufgabe(Deutsch)tarefa(Português)

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 "job"?
"job" is spelled J-O-B. The IPA pronunciation is /dʒɒb/.
What does "job" mean?
As a noun, "job" means: A task.
What words are commonly confused with "job"?
"job" is commonly confused with "Jr", "Ju", "JV". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "job"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "job" is /dʒɒb/. 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 "job"?
From the phrase jobbe of work (“piece of work”), of uncertain origin. Perhaps from a variant of Middle English gobbe (“mass, lump”); or perhaps related to Middle English jobben (“to jab, thrust, peck”), or Middle English choppe (“piece, bargain”).... 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 "job", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

far#295try#299yes#301men#289

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list