piker
/ˈpaɪkə(ɹ)/
"piker" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“piker” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A soldier armed with a pike, a pikeman.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | piker |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpaɪkə(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “piker” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for piker is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈpaɪkə(ɹ)/. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. Wiktionary records 9 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
piker doesn't appear in our generated misspelling index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. This entry stands alone in our confusable dataset, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From pike + -er. In some senses, it has been linked etymologically to the word pikey as well as to Pike County in eastern Missouri https://web.archive.org/web/20051111194645/http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/p/p0300200.html. In the latter instance the term … The correct English form is piker, spelled P-I-K-E-R.
Definition
- 1A soldier armed with a pike, a pikeman.
- 2One who bets or gambles only with small amounts of money.
- 3A stingy person; a cheapskate.
- 4An amateur.
- 5A bullock living in the wild. (Also used attributively.)
- 6One who refuses to go out with friends, or leaves a party early; a spoilsport or "chicken".
- 7One who pikes (quits or backs out of a promise).
- 8A male freshman at Cornell University.
- 9A tramp; a vagrant.
Etymology
From pike + -er. In some senses, it has been linked etymologically to the word pikey as well as to Pike County in eastern Missouri https://web.archive.org/web/20051111194645/http://www.yourdictionary.com/ahd/p/p0300200.html. In the latter instance the term originally denoted poor immigrants to California.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Using “piker”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-I-K-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpaɪkə(ɹ)/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.