pest

/pɛst/

//pɛst// noun

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

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

The verdict

“pest” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #12,295. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#12,295
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A pestilence, i.e. a deadly epidemic, a deadly plague.

Corpus desk

Index EN-pest · pest · English

pest · rank #12,295 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #12,295
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH pedal

Nearest frequency peer: pedal (-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 “pest”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “pest” 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).

pest vs pt
50% similar
pest vs PS
0% similar
pest vs put
50% similar

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

Key facts for pest
PropertyValue
Headwordpest
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pɛst/
Letters4
Frequency rank#12,295
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “pest”

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).pestlands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “pedal” (#12,294), “pillar” (#12,296), “plausible” (#12,298). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “pest” is #12,295. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around pest (IPA /pɛst/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #12,295 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for pest, with forms such as "epst", "pesst", and "pestt". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "pt", "PS", "put", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: In the 16th century in the sense of "pestilence" and specifically bubonic plague from Middle French peste (“pestilence”) (whence French peste). The other meanings are recorded soon after. Ultimately from Latin pestis. The correct English form is pest, spelled P-E-S-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    A pestilence, i.e. a deadly epidemic, a deadly plague.
  2. 2
    Any destructive insect that attacks crops or livestock; an agricultural pest.
  3. 3
    An annoying person, a nuisance.
  4. 4
    An animal regarded as a nuisance, destructive, or a parasite, vermin.
  5. 5
    An invasive weed.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. From the perspective of traditional Chinese culture, pests and famines are reflections of the current administration’s lack of moral values and deviation from divine will. The head of the administration (the emperor in the past) would then issue an edict to sincerely repent and correct his wrongdoings.

Etymology

In the 16th century in the sense of "pestilence" and specifically bubonic plague from Middle French peste (“pestilence”) (whence French peste). The other meanings are recorded soon after. Ultimately from Latin pestis.

Synonyms

bug

This word in other languages

peste(Español)peste(Français)Seuche(Deutsch)peste(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • epst
  • pesst
  • pestt
  • ppest
  • pset

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

epst2pesst1pestt1ppest1pset2
Edit distance from "pest"

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 "pest"?
"pest" is spelled P-E-S-T. The IPA pronunciation is /pɛst/.
What does "pest" mean?
As a noun, "pest" means: A pestilence, i.e. a deadly epidemic, a deadly plague.
What words are commonly confused with "pest"?
"pest" is commonly confused with "pt", "PS", "put". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "pest"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "pest" is /pɛst/. 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 "pest"?
In the 16th century in the sense of "pestilence" and specifically bubonic plague from Middle French peste (“pestilence”) (whence French peste). The other meanings are recorded soon after. Ultimately from Latin pestis. 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 "pest", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

Nile#12,285neon#12,284Neal#12,283rift#12,316

Similar misspelling depth

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

sonny5 variantsexpo5 variantsatop5 variantsattic5 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list