mire

/ˈmaɪə/

//ˈmaɪə// noun

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

"mire" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“mire” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #39,914. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#39,914
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Deep mud; moist, spongy earth.

Corpus desk

Index EN-mire · mire · English

mire · rank #39,914 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #39,914
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH mib

Nearest frequency peer: mib (-2 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 “mire”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “mire” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

mire vs Mr
25% similar
mire vs Mrs
25% similar
mire vs mix
50% similar

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

Key facts for mire
PropertyValue
Headwordmire
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmaɪə/
Letters4
Frequency rank#39,914
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “mire”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).mirelands here:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Same rarity band neighbours include “mib” (#39,912), “modulate” (#39,916), “mesothelioma” (#39,911). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “mire” is #39,914. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around mire (IPA /ˈmaɪə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #39,914 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for mire, with forms such as "imre", "mier", and "mirre". 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, "Mr", "Mrs", "mix", 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 mire, a borrowing from Old Norse mýrr, from Proto-Germanic *miuzijō, whence also Swedish myr, Norwegian myr, Icelandic mýri, Dutch *mier (in placenames, for example Mierlo). Related to Proto-Germanic *meusą, whence Old English mēos, and … The correct English form is mire, spelled M-I-R-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Deep mud; moist, spongy earth.
  2. 2
    A bog or fen; (in wetland science, specifically) a peatland which is actively forming peat, such as an active bog or fen.
  3. 3
    An undesirable situation; a predicament.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. His laden feet sand and stuck in mire; he was bedaubed with the blue-gray clay from head to foot; but he had escaped the deadly river!
  2. Glagolev […] measured CH₄ emission from a mire in West Siberia using a static chamber method. Similar methods had been developed and tested by Nakano et al. (2006), Fig. 1.

Etymology

From Middle English mire, a borrowing from Old Norse mýrr, from Proto-Germanic *miuzijō, whence also Swedish myr, Norwegian myr, Icelandic mýri, Dutch *mier (in placenames, for example Mierlo). Related to Proto-Germanic *meusą, whence Old English mēos, and Proto-Germanic *musą, whence Old English mos (English moss).

This word in other languages

lodazal(Español)fange(Français)Morast(Deutsch)lama(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • imre
  • mier
  • mirre
  • mmire
  • mrie

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of mire - 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.

imre2mier2mirre1mmire1mrie2
Edit distance from "mire"

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 "mire"?
"mire" is spelled M-I-R-E. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmaɪə/.
What does "mire" mean?
As a noun, "mire" means: Deep mud; moist, spongy earth.
What words are commonly confused with "mire"?
"mire" is commonly confused with "Mr", "Mrs", "mix". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "mire"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "mire" is /ˈmaɪə/. 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 "mire"?
From Middle English mire, a borrowing from Old Norse mýrr, from Proto-Germanic *miuzijō, whence also Swedish myr, Norwegian myr, Icelandic mýri, Dutch *mier (in placenames, for example Mierlo). Related to Proto-Germanic *meusą, whence Old English ... 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 "mire", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

mahi#39,904moya#39,924Lian#39,898noob#39,934

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).

lemma5 variantsOuija5 variantsrasa5 variantsfora5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list