people's

/ˈpiːpəlz/

//ˈpiːpəlz// adj

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

"people-s" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“people's” has 11 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,121. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,121
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
11
tracked misspellings
2
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Considered to be of, from, or in tune with the common people, rather than from a ruling elite.

Corpus desk

Index EN-people-s · people's · English

people's · rank #2,121 · 11 variants · 2 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,121
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-LOW 2 pairs
  • VAR-MID 11 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH officials

Nearest frequency peer: officials (-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 “people's”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “people's” 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).

people's vs peoples
88% similar
people's vs people
75% similar

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

Key facts for people's
PropertyValue
Headwordpeople's
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdjective
IPA/ˈpiːpəlz/
Letters8
Frequency rank#2,121
Misspellings tracked11
Confusable pairs2
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “people's”

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).people'slands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “officials” (#2,120), “performed” (#2,122), “methods” (#2,119). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “people's” is #2,121. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 11 spelling variants around people's (IPA /ˈpiːpəlz/), anadjective. Corpus frequency is #2,121 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for people's, with forms such as "epople's", "peolpe's", and "peopel's". 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 2 confusable-pair relationships, "peoples", "people", where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, leaving phoneme-to-grapheme mapping as the best guide to its spelling rather than a borrowing history. The correct English form is people's, spelled P-E-O-P-L-E-'-S.

Definition

  1. 1
    Considered to be of, from, or in tune with the common people, rather than from a ruling elite.
  2. 2
    In certain socialist states: of, from, or controlled (at least in name) by the common people rather than a ruling elite.
  3. 3
    Used to label a state as secretly authoritarian or totalitarian regardless of its government.
  4. 4
    Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see people, -'s.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. She [Diana, Princess of Wales] was of the people and for the people, and the Prime Minister, Tony Blair, captured that sentiment when he described her as 'the people's princess'.
  2. the People's Liberation Army

This word in other languages

popular(Español)populaire(Français)Volks-(Deutsch)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • epople's
  • peolpe's
  • peopel's
  • peopl'es
  • people'ss
  • peoples'
  • peoplle's
  • peopple's
  • pepole's
  • poeple's
  • ppeople's

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of people's - 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.

epople's2peolpe's2peopel's2peopl'es2people'ss1peoples'2peoplle's1peopple's1
Edit distance from "people's"

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 "people's"?
"people's" is spelled P-E-O-P-L-E-'-S. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈpiːpəlz/.
What does "people's" mean?
As an adjective, "people's" means: Considered to be of, from, or in tune with the common people, rather than from a ruling elite.
What words are commonly confused with "people's"?
"people's" is commonly confused with "peoples", "people". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "people's"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "people's" is /ˈpiːpəlz/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "people's" come from?
"people's" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 "people's", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Scotland#2,126selected#2,127shopping#2,129exercise#2,109

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (11 here; floor ≥5).

officials11 variantsmethods11 variantscharges11 variantssuddenly11 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list