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loser

Definition, pronunciation, etymology, and usage for the English word. Free spelling reference powered by Wiktionary.

Letters

5 characters

Language

English

word origin

Source

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Detailed reference entry for the English word "loser", 5-letters, with pronunciation in International Phonetic Alphabet notation, etymology traced through Germanic and Romance roots where applicable, common misspelling variants catalogued from Hunspell error dictionaries, and usage frequency ranked against the top 100,000 English words in the Wordfreq corpus. PlainSpell covers English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German spelling with confusable-pair detection that highlights visually and phonetically similar words. This entry for "loser" includes synonyms, antonyms, homophones, and cross-language translation pointers sourced from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org extract. Whether you are verifying the correct spelling of "loser" for academic writing, checking homophone confusion, or exploring etymological origins, this page provides a citation-backed, free reference that requires no sign-up.

loser is aEnglishnoun. It means: A person who loses; one who fails to win or thrive. Pronounced /luːzə(ɹ)/. It ranks #7,026 in English word frequency. Often confused with love and lost.

Key facts for loser
PropertyValue
Headwordloser
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/luːzə(ɹ)/
Letters5
Frequency rank#7,026
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency rank visualization

Position of loser in English word frequency (lower rank = more common)

Source: Wordfreq corpus

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for loser is 5 letters long, classified as anoun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /luːzə(ɹ)/. Corpus data places it at rank #7,026 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text.Wiktionary records 7 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our Hunspell-derived misspelling index lists 7 documented wrong-spelling variants for loser, with forms such as "lloser", "loesr", and "loserr". Each variant represents a distinct typo pattern that appears often enough in corpora to be worth flagging, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution.It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "love", "lost", "loss", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English loser, losere, equivalent to lose + -er. In the sense of contemptible or worthless individual, perhaps an alteration of losel, which see. Root origin matters for spelling because borrowed morphemes (Greek, Latin, Old French, Old English) carry their source-language orthographic conventions into modern English, which is why historical etymology is often the cleanest predictor of whether a cluster like "-ough", "-eau", or "-tion" will appear. For readers arriving here from a spelling check, the authoritative guidance is: the correct English form is loser, spelled L-O-S-E-R, and any other sequence of those letters, regardless of how natural it feels, is a misspelling in standard orthography.

Definition

  1. 1
    A person who loses; one who fails to win or thrive.
  2. 2
    Something of poor quality.
  3. 3
    A person who is frequently unsuccessful in life.
  4. 4
    A contemptible or unfashionable person.
  5. 5
    One who or that which loses something, such as extra weight, car keys, etc.
  6. 6
    A losing proposition, one that is likely to lose or already has lost (such as a losing bet or, analogously, a predictably fruitless task or errand).
  7. 7
    A person convicted of a crime, especially more than once.

Etymology

From Middle English loser, losere, equivalent to lose + -er. In the sense of contemptible or worthless individual, perhaps an alteration of losel, which see.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: lloser,loesr,loserr,losre,losser,lsoer,olser

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

Relative frequency of common misspelling types for loser

Misspelling Variants of "loser"

lloser6loesr5loserr6losre5losser6lsoer5olser5
Misspelling Variants of "loser"

Frequency rank: #7,026 in English

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "loser"?
"loser" is spelled L-O-S-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /luːzə(ɹ)/.
What does "loser" mean?
As a noun, "loser" means: A person who loses; one who fails to win or thrive.
What words are commonly confused with "loser"?
"loser" is commonly confused with "love", "lost", "loss". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "loser"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "loser" is /luːzə(ɹ)/. 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 "loser"?
From Middle English loser, losere, equivalent to lose + -er. In the sense of contemptible or worthless individual, perhaps an alteration of losel, which see. 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.

Nearby English words

Other entries that begin with the letter L in our English index:

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Data Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Frequency data from Wordfreq. Misspellings derived from Hunspell dictionaries.