prose
/ˈpɹəʊz/
"prose" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“prose” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #10,913. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #10,913
- frequency rank, English
- 4,417
- “P” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - Language, particularly written language, not intended as poetry.
Corpus desk
Index EN-prose · prose · English
prose · rank #10,913 · 7 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #10,913
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-MID 4,417
- PHOTO-FINISH props
Nearest frequency peer: props (-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.
Frequency neighbourhood for “prose”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- plantation
plantation
89,091 corpus weight
- presently
presently
89,090 corpus weight
- props
props
89,089 corpus weight
- prose
prose
89,088 corpus weight
- prostitution
prostitution
89,087 corpus weight
- quoting
quoting
89,086 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “prose” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.
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 | prose |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈpɹəʊz/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #10,913 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “prose” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around prose (IPA /ˈpɹəʊz/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #10,913 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for prose, with forms such as "porse", "pprose", and "proes". 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, "PRS", "Prot", "proud", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English prose, from Old French prose, from Latin prōsa (“straightforward”) from the term prōsa ōrātiō (“a straightforward speech – i.e. without the ornaments of verse”). further etymology and related terms The term prōsa (“straightforward”), a c… The correct English form is prose, spelled P-R-O-S-E.
Definition
- 1Language, particularly written language, not intended as poetry.
- 2Language which evinces little imagination or animation; dull and commonplace discourse.
- 3A hymn with no regular meter, sometimes introduced into the Mass.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how prose appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
Though known mostly for her prose, she also produced a small body of excellent poems.
...Or if Sion Hill Delight thee more, and Siloa's Brook that flow’d Faft by the Oracle of God; I thence Invoke thy aid to my adventrous Song, That with no middle flight intends to soar Above th’ Ionian Mounts while it pursues Things unattempted yet in Prose or Rhime...
Etymology
From Middle English prose, from Old French prose, from Latin prōsa (“straightforward”) from the term prōsa ōrātiō (“a straightforward speech – i.e. without the ornaments of verse”). further etymology and related terms The term prōsa (“straightforward”), a colloquial form of prorsa (“straight forwards”), the feminine form prorsus (“straight forwards”), from Old Latin prōvorsus (“moving straight ahead”), from pro- (“forward”) + vorsus (“turned”), form of vertō (“I turn”). Compare verse.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- porse
- pprose
- proes
- prosse
- prrose
- prsoe
- rpose
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of prose - 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.
PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 2, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "prose", 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 (7 here; floor ≥5).
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.