press
/pɹɛs/
"press" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“press” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #719. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #719
- frequency rank, English
- 4,417
- “P” headwords
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An instance of applying pressure; an instance of pressing.
Corpus desk
Index EN-press · press · English
press · rank #719 · 5 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-CORE #719
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 5 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH performance
Nearest frequency peer: performance (-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 “press”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- original
original
99,285 corpus weight
- park
park
99,284 corpus weight
- performance
performance
99,283 corpus weight
- press
press
99,282 corpus weight
- received
received
99,281 corpus weight
- sent
sent
99,279 corpus weight
What this shows “press” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | press |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /pɹɛs/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #719 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “press”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 5 spelling variants around press (IPA /pɹɛs/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #719 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 12 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for press, with forms such as "perss", "ppress", and "prress". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "PRS", "prey", "pros", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English presse (“throng, crowd, clothespress”), partially from Old English press (“clothespress”) (from Medieval Latin pressa) and from Old French presse (Modern French presse) from Old French presser (“to press”), from Latin pressāre, from pres… The correct English form is press, spelled P-R-E-S-S.
Definition
- 1An instance of applying pressure; an instance of pressing.
- 2A device used to apply pressure to an item.
- 3A crowd.
- 4A printing machine.
- 5The print-based media (both the people and the newspapers).
- 6A publisher.
- 7An enclosed storage space (e.g. closet, cupboard).
- 8An exercise in which weight is forced away from the body by extension of the arms or legs.
- 9An additional bet in a golf match that duplicates an existing (usually losing) wager in value, but begins even at the time of the bet.
- 10Pure, unfermented grape juice.
- 11A commission to force men into public service, particularly into the navy.
- 12In personology, any environmental factor that arouses a need in the individual.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how press appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Connecting to the service is almost idiot proof and takes just a few button presses.
a slaloming winger putting lumpen defenders on their backsides, or even a sneaky centre-forward, using his boundless energy to lead the press and force mistakes.
Etymology
From Middle English presse (“throng, crowd, clothespress”), partially from Old English press (“clothespress”) (from Medieval Latin pressa) and from Old French presse (Modern French presse) from Old French presser (“to press”), from Latin pressāre, from pressus, past participle of premere (“to press”). Displaced native Middle English thring (“press, crowd, throng”) (from Old English þring (“a press, crowd, anything that presses or confines”)).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- perss
- ppress
- prress
- prses
- rpess
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of press - 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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "press", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).