plush
/plʌʃ/
"plush" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“plush” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #18,920 in English word frequency and used as an adjective.
- #18,920
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Very extravagant.
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 | plush |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Adjective |
| IPA | /plʌʃ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #18,920 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “plush” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for plush is 5 letters long, classified as an adjective, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /plʌʃ/. Corpus data places it at rank #18,920 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for plush, with forms such as "lpush", "pllush", and "plsuh". 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, "pus", "psh", "push", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From French peluche (“fluff, plush”). The fact that historically (in past centuries) plush upholstery was so expensive as to be socially exclusive undoubtedly connects the senses of "luxurious" and "soft". The correct English form is plush, spelled P-L-U-S-H.
Definition
- 1Very extravagant.
- 2Very expensive, or appearing expensive; opulent, luxurious.
- 3Having a soft, fluffy exterior (of a man-made object, especially stuffed animals or upholstery).
Etymology
From French peluche (“fluff, plush”). The fact that historically (in past centuries) plush upholstery was so expensive as to be socially exclusive undoubtedly connects the senses of "luxurious" and "soft".
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: lpush,pllush,plsuh,pluhs,plushh,plussh,pplush,pulsh
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of plush - 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.
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
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Using “plush”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-L-U-S-H - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /plʌʃ/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “pus” - see the side-by-side comparison. plush vs pus
- 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.