mike
/ˈmaɪk/
"mike" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“mike” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #1,665. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #1,665
- frequency rank, English
- 4,057
- “M” headwords
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A microphone.
Corpus desk
Index EN-mike · mike · English
mike · rank #1,665 · 5 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #1,665
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 5 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,057
- PHOTO-FINISH method
Nearest frequency peer: method (-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.
Rank peers near misspelling magnet “mike”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- healthy
healthy
98,339 corpus weight
- institute
institute
98,338 corpus weight
- method
method
98,337 corpus weight
- mike
mike
98,336 corpus weight
- Monday
Monday
98,335 corpus weight
- nations
nations
98,334 corpus weight
What this shows “mike” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | mike |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmaɪk/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #1,665 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “mike”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 5 spelling variants around mike (IPA /ˈmaɪk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #1,665 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Dominant gloss: "A microphone.".
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for mike, with forms such as "imke", "miek", and "mikke". 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, "MK", "mix", "min", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: Alteration of mic, clipping of microphone. Attested since 1927. The correct English form is mike, spelled M-I-K-E.
Definition
- 1A microphone.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how mike appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
1970, Theodore Sturgeon and Edward H. Waldo, "The Pod in the Barrier", in A Touch of Strange, Ayer Publishing, →ISBN, page 28, "Then I say to the recording, for the record," I barked, right into the mike, […]
1981, John Swaigen, How to Fight for What’s Right: The Guide to Public Interest Law, James Lorimer & Company, →ISBN, pages 118–119, Obviously, one must watch what one says in the vicinity of a microphone. More than one person has made a “private” statement in the presence of an open mike.
Etymology
Alteration of mic, clipping of microphone. Attested since 1927.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- imke
- miek
- mikke
- mkie
- mmike
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of mike - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "mike", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).