nuke

/njuːk/

//njuːk// noun

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

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

The verdict

“nuke” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #19,919. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#19,919
frequency rank, English
1,534
“N” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A nuclear weapon.

Corpus desk

Index EN-nuke · nuke · English

nuke · rank #19,919 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #19,919
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 1,534
  • PHOTO-FINISH nightingale

Nearest frequency peer: nightingale (-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 “nuke”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “nuke” 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).

nuke vs nut
50% similar
nuke vs nun
50% similar
nuke vs nye
50% similar

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

Key facts for nuke
PropertyValue
Headwordnuke
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/njuːk/
Letters4
Frequency rank#19,919
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “nuke”

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).nukelands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “nightingale” (#19,918), “O'Connell” (#19,920), “NES” (#19,917). Among 1,534 “N” headwords, “nuke” is #19,919. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around nuke (IPA /njuːk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #19,919 among 1,534 “N” headwords. Wiktionary lists 7 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for nuke, with forms such as "nkue", "nnuke", and "nuek". 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, "nut", "nun", "nye", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Clipping of nuclear weapon. The verb is derived from the noun. The correct English form is nuke, spelled N-U-K-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A nuclear weapon.
  2. 2
    Something that destroys or negates, especially on a catastrophic scale.
  3. 3
    A nuclear power station.
  4. 4
    A vessel such as a ship or submarine running on nuclear power.
  5. 5
    A person (such as a sailor in a navy or a scientist) who works with nuclear weapons or nuclear power.
  6. 6
    A cautionary flag placed on a release to label it as "bad" for some reason or another (e.g., being a dupe of a previous release or containing malware).
  7. 7
    A microwave oven.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. "Mini-nukes" are "among the active unresolved nuclear issues in NATO at the moment," according to a Senate Foreign Relations Committee staff report. […] Mini-nukes, the report said, are the "new generation of tactical nuclear weapons which combine low and variable yield possibilities with enhanced radiation characteristics and which could be used with art…
  2. The world has witnessed the first confrontation between the ‘nukes’ and the ‘non-nukes’ [i.e., countries possessing and not possessing nuclear weapons]. Although only a political one, this confrontation at the Review Conference of the Parties to the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT), which took place last May in Geneva, portends serious trouble ahead.

Etymology

Clipping of nuclear weapon. The verb is derived from the noun.

This word in other languages

arma nuclear(Español)arme atomique(Français)A-Bombe(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • nkue
  • nnuke
  • nuek
  • nukke
  • unke

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

nkue2nnuke1nuek2nukke1unke2
Edit distance from "nuke"

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 "nuke"?
"nuke" is spelled N-U-K-E. The IPA pronunciation is /njuːk/.
What does "nuke" mean?
As a noun, "nuke" means: A nuclear weapon.
What words are commonly confused with "nuke"?
"nuke" is commonly confused with "nut", "nun", "nye". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "nuke"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "nuke" is /njuːk/. 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 "nuke"?
Clipping of nuclear weapon. The verb is derived from the noun. 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 "nuke", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

meow#19,903Mein#19,901Pooh#19,943mana#19,892

Similar misspelling depth

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

tito5 variantstofu5 variantstwat5 variantsassay5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list