lunar
/ˈl(j)uːnə/
"lunar" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lunar” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #10,078 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #10,078
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Of, pertaining to, or resembling the Moon (that is, Luna, the Earth's moon).
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 | lunar |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /ˈl(j)uːnə/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #10,078 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “lunar” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for lunar is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈl(j)uːnə/. Corpus data places it at rank #10,078 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 6 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for lunar, with forms such as "llunar", "lnuar", and "luanr". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "lung", "Lund", "lunch", 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 lunar (“shaped like the crescent moon”), from Latin lūnāris (“of or pertaining to the moon, lunar”) (possibly through Middle French lunaire (modern French lunaire (“lunar”)), from lūna (“the Moon; crescent shape”) (ultimately from Proto-… The correct English form is lunar, spelled L-U-N-A-R.
Definition
- 1Of, pertaining to, or resembling the Moon (that is, Luna, the Earth's moon).
- 2Shaped like a crescent moon; lunate.
- 3Extremely high.
- 4(Believed to be) influenced by the Moon, as in character, growth, or properties.
- 5Of or pertaining to silver (which was symbolically associated with the Moon by alchemists).
- 6Of or pertaining to travel through space between the Earth and the Moon, or exploration and scientific investigation of the Moon.
Etymology
From Middle English lunar (“shaped like the crescent moon”), from Latin lūnāris (“of or pertaining to the moon, lunar”) (possibly through Middle French lunaire (modern French lunaire (“lunar”)), from lūna (“the Moon; crescent shape”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *lewk- (“bright; to shine”)) + -is (suffix forming adjectives).
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: llunar,lnuar,luanr,lunarr,lunnar,lunra,ulnar
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of lunar - 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 "lunar"?
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Using “lunar”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is L-U-N-A-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈl(j)uːnə/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “lung” - see the side-by-side comparison. lunar vs lung
- 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.