miser
/ˈmaɪzə(ɹ)/
"miser" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“miser” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #49,498 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #49,498
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A person who hoards money rather than spending it; one who is cheap or extremely parsimonious.
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 | miser |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈmaɪzə(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #49,498 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “miser” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for miser is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈmaɪzə(ɹ)/. Corpus data places it at rank #49,498 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 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 miser, with forms such as "imser", "miesr", and "miserr". Every one of these variants traces to a single-character edit -- an added or dropped letter, a swapped consonant, or a vowel swap -- the kind of slip a spell-checker is built to catch. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "miss", "mist", "muse", 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 misser, from Late Latin miser (“wretched, unfortunate, unhappy, miserable, sick, ill, bad, worthless, etc.”). The correct English form is miser, spelled M-I-S-E-R.
Definition
- 1A person who hoards money rather than spending it; one who is cheap or extremely parsimonious.
- 2A person who is wretched or despicable; a wretch.
- 3A kind of earth auger, typically large-bored and often hand-operated.
Etymology
From Middle English misser, from Late Latin miser (“wretched, unfortunate, unhappy, miserable, sick, ill, bad, worthless, etc.”).
Synonyms
Antonyms
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: imser,miesr,miserr,misre,misser,mmiser,msier
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of miser - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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 “miser”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is M-I-S-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈmaɪzə(ɹ)/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “miss” - see the side-by-side comparison. miser vs miss
- 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.