potato bug
"potato-bug" is a 9-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“potato bug” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 10
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A Jerusalem cricket, any of various insects of the genus Stenopelmatus.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | potato bug |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 10 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “potato bug” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
potato bug is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 5 senses are on record.
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for potato bug, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.
This headword's origin isn't recorded in our source data, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is potato bug, spelled P-O-T-A-T-O- -B-U-G.
Definition
- 1A Jerusalem cricket, any of various insects of the genus Stenopelmatus.
- 2A woodlouse, any of various terrestrial crustaceans of suborder Oniscidea.
- 3Any of various insects that feed on or harm potato plants.
- 4Any of various insects that feed on or harm potato plants.
- 5Any of various insects that feed on or harm potato plants.
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 “potato bug”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-O-T-A-T-O- -B-U-G - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- 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.