lewd
/ljuːd/
"lewd" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lewd” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #22,725 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #22,725
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Lascivious, sexually promiscuous, rude.
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 | lewd |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ljuːd/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #22,725 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lewd” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for lewd is 4 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ljuːd/. Corpus data places it at rank #22,725 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 5 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for lewd, with forms such as "elwd", "ledw", and "lewdd". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "low", "lid", "lex", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English lewed, lewd, leued (“unlearned, lay, lascivious”), from Old English lǣwede (“unlearned, ignorant, lay”), of uncertain origin. Formally similar to a derivative of the past participle of Old English lǣwan (“to reveal, betray”) in the sense… The correct English form is lewd, spelled L-E-W-D.
Definition
- 1Lascivious, sexually promiscuous, rude.
- 2Lay; not clerical.
- 3Uneducated.
- 4Vulgar, common; typical of the lower orders.
- 5Base, vile, reprehensible.
Etymology
From Middle English lewed, lewd, leued (“unlearned, lay, lascivious”), from Old English lǣwede (“unlearned, ignorant, lay”), of uncertain origin. Formally similar to a derivative of the past participle of Old English lǣwan (“to reveal, betray”) in the sense of "exposed as being unlearned" or "easily betrayed, clueless", from Proto-West Germanic *lāwijan, from Proto-Germanic *lēwijaną (“to betray”), from *lēwą (“an opportunity, cause”), from Proto-Indo-European *lēw- (“to leave”). If so, then cognate with Old High German gilāen, firlāen (“to betray”), Gothic 𐌲𐌰𐌻𐌴𐍅𐌾𐌰𐌽 (galēwjan, “to give over, betray”), Gothic 𐌻𐌴𐍅 (lēw, “an opportunity, cause”). Or, according to the OED, probably from Vulgar Latin *laigo-, from Late Latin lāicus (“of the people”), from Ancient Greek λαϊκός (laïkós).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: elwd,ledw,lewdd,lewwd,llewd,lwed
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lewd - 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
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Using “lewd”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-E-W-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ljuːd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “low” - see the side-by-side comparison. lewd vs low
- 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.