pastry
/ˈpeɪstɹi/
"pastry" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pastry” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #14,378. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #14,378
- frequency rank, English
- 4,417
- “P” headwords
- 10
- tracked misspellings
- 17
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A baked food item made from flour and fat pastes such as pie crust; also tarts, bear claws, napoleons, puff pastries, etc.
Corpus desk
Index EN-pastry · pastry · English
pastry · rank #14,378 · 10 variants · 17 confusables
- FREQ-MID #14,378
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 17 pairs
- VAR-MID 10 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH pawn
Nearest frequency peer: pawn (+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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “pastry”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- omitted
omitted
85,627 corpus weight
- overlook
overlook
85,625 corpus weight
- pastry
pastry
85,623 corpus weight
- pawn
pawn
85,622 corpus weight
- pediatric
pediatric
85,621 corpus weight
- persist
persist
85,620 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “pastry” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | pastry |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpeɪstɹi/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #14,378 |
| Misspellings tracked | 10 |
| Confusable pairs | 17 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “pastry” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 10 spelling variants around pastry (IPA /ˈpeɪstɹi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #14,378 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for pastry, with forms such as "apstry", "pasrty", and "passtry". 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 17 confusable-pair relationships, "Patty", "Patsy", "pasty", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English pastre, pastri, from pastree (variant of pasterie, from Old French pastaierie and Medieval Latin pasteria, from Late Latin pasta, from Ancient Greek παστά (pastá)) or paste + -ri (modern paste + -ry). The correct English form is pastry, spelled P-A-S-T-R-Y.
Definition
- 1A baked food item made from flour and fat pastes such as pie crust; also tarts, bear claws, napoleons, puff pastries, etc.
- 2The food group formed by the various kinds of pastries.
- 3The type of light flour-based dough used in pastries.
- 4A place where pastry is made.
- 5The act or art of making pastry.
- 6Desserts of all kinds, whether or not these incorporate the baked item made from flour and fat, or that section of a kitchen that prepares these.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how pastry appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
That pastry shop sells not just pastries, but all kinds of baked goods.
That pastry shop sells not just pastry, but all kinds of baked goods.
Etymology
From Middle English pastre, pastri, from pastree (variant of pasterie, from Old French pastaierie and Medieval Latin pasteria, from Late Latin pasta, from Ancient Greek παστά (pastá)) or paste + -ri (modern paste + -ry).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- apstry
- pasrty
- passtry
- pastrry
- pastryy
- pasttry
- pastyr
- patsry
- ppastry
- psatry
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of pastry - 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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "pastry"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "pastry", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "pastry". Here's where to go from here.
- "pastry" maps to 17 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "Patty". View pair
- 10 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #14,378 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "P" letter cohort. P–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.