nudge
/nʌd͡ʒ/
"nudge" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“nudge” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #21,883. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #21,883
- frequency rank, English
- 1,534
- “N” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A gentle push.
Corpus desk
Index EN-nudge · nudge · English
nudge · rank #21,883 · 7 variants · 5 confusables
- FREQ-MID #21,883
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-MID 5 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-MID 1,534
- PHOTO-FINISH Norwood
Nearest frequency peer: Norwood (-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 “nudge”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- narcissistic
narcissistic
78,125 corpus weight
- negotiable
negotiable
78,124 corpus weight
- nom
nom
78,121 corpus weight
- northward
northward
78,120 corpus weight
- Norwood
Norwood
78,119 corpus weight
- nudge
nudge
78,118 corpus weight
What this shows “nudge” 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 | nudge |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /nʌd͡ʒ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #21,883 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “nudge”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around nudge (IPA /nʌd͡ʒ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #21,883 among 1,534 “N” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for nudge, with forms such as "nduge", "nnudge", and "nuddge". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 5 confusable-pair relationships, "nuke", "nurse", "nugget", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: Circa 17th century, perhaps of North Germanic origin, related to Norwegian nugge, nyggje (“to push, rub, shove”), Icelandic nugga (“to rub, massage”), from the root of Proto-Germanic *hnōjaną (“to smooth, join together”), from Proto-Indo-European *kneh₂- (c… The correct English form is nudge, spelled N-U-D-G-E.
Definition
- 1A gentle push.
- 2A feature of instant messaging software used to get the attention of another user, as by shaking the conversation window or playing a sound.
- 3The rotation by one step of a fruit machine reel of the player's choice.
- 4The use of positive reinforcement and indirect suggestions as ways to influence.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how nudge appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
give someone a nudge
Since the machine was showing two lemons and a cherry, I decided to try a nudge.
Etymology
Circa 17th century, perhaps of North Germanic origin, related to Norwegian nugge, nyggje (“to push, rub, shove”), Icelandic nugga (“to rub, massage”), from the root of Proto-Germanic *hnōjaną (“to smooth, join together”), from Proto-Indo-European *kneh₂- (compare Ancient Greek κνάω (knáō, “to scratch, scrape”), source of English acnestis). Compare also Scots nodge (“to push, poke, nudge”), knidge (“to push, squeeze”), gnidge (“to rub, press, squeeze, bruise”), and knudge (“to squeeze, press down with the knuckles”), Saterland Frisian Nukke, Nuk (“a sudden push”), Middle Low German nucke, nücke, gnücke (“a sudden push, shock, impetus”). Compare also dialectal nuch (“to tremble”), Middle English nuchen (“to tremble”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- nduge
- nnudge
- nuddge
- nudeg
- nudgge
- nugde
- undge
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of nudge - 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 "nudge", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).