murderer

/ˈmɜːdəɹə/

//ˈmɜːdəɹə// noun

"murderer" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“murderer” has 12 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #9,368. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#9,368
frequency rank, English
4,057
“M” headwords
12
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A person who commits murder.

Corpus desk

Index EN-murderer · murderer · English

murderer · rank #9,368 · 12 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #9,368
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 12 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,057
  • PHOTO-FINISH nap

Nearest frequency peer: nap (+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 “murderer”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “murderer” 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).

murderer vs murder
75% similar
murderer vs murdered
88% similar

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

Key facts for murderer
PropertyValue
Headwordmurderer
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈmɜːdəɹə/
Letters8
Frequency rank#9,368
Misspellings tracked12
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “murderer”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).murdererlands 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 “nap” (#9,369), “nickel” (#9,370), “methodology” (#9,365). Among 4,057 “M” headwords, “murderer” is #9,368. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 12 spelling variants around murderer (IPA /ˈmɜːdəɹə/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #9,368 among 4,057 “M” headwords. Dominant gloss: "A person who commits murder.".

Our generated misspelling index lists 12 likely wrong-spelling variants for murderer, with forms such as "mmurderer", "mruderer", and "mudrerer". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "murder", "murdered", since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English murderere; equivalent to murder + -er. The correct English form is murderer, spelled M-U-R-D-E-R-E-R.

Definition

  1. 1
    A person who commits murder.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Neither does a great nation […] debate, with drivelling tears, and diabolical sympathies, whether it ought not piously to save, and nursingly cherish, the lives of its murderers.
  2. It was two o'clock when she came to herself and called for the police. The murderer was gone long ago; but there lay his victim in the middle of the lane, incredibly mangled. The stick with which the deed had been done, although it was of some rare and very tough and heavy wood, had broken in the middle under the stress of this insensate cruelty; […]

Etymology

From Middle English murderere; equivalent to murder + -er.

This word in other languages

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • mmurderer
  • mruderer
  • mudrerer
  • murdderer
  • murdeerr
  • murdererr
  • murderre
  • murderrer
  • murdreer
  • muredrer
  • murrderer
  • umrderer

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of murderer - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

mmurderer1mruderer2mudrerer2murdderer1murdeerr2murdererr1murderre2murderrer1
Edit distance from "murderer"

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 "murderer"?
"murderer" is spelled M-U-R-D-E-R-E-R. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈmɜːdəɹə/.
What does "murderer" mean?
As a noun, "murderer" means: A person who commits murder.
What words are commonly confused with "murderer"?
"murderer" is commonly confused with "murder", "murdered". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "murderer"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "murderer" is /ˈmɜːdəɹə/. 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 "murderer"?
From Middle English murderere; equivalent to murder + -er. 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 "murderer", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 8 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (12 here; floor ≥5).

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list