PU

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By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"pu" is a 2-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“PU” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #16,315) as an interjection. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#16,315
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Alternative form of P U; expression used when encountering a displeasing smell; exaggerated pronunciation of pew.

Corpus desk

Index EN-pu · PU · English

PU · rank #16,315 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #16,315
  • LEN-SHORT 2 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH provocative

Nearest frequency peer: provocative (-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 “PU”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “PU” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

PU vs PV
50% similar
PU vs PW
50% similar
PU vs PX
50% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for PU
PropertyValue
HeadwordPU
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechInterjection
Letters2
Frequency rank#16,315
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “PU” sits in English frequency

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).PUlands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “provocative” (#16,314), “purposely” (#16,316), “qc” (#16,317). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for PU is neighbouring look-alikes ("PV", "PW", …), not just typos; it is aninterjection. Frequency #16,315 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Gloss: "Alternative form of P U; expression used when encountering a displeasing smell; exaggerated pronunciation of pew.".

No misspelling variants are generated for PU in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "PV", "PW", "PX", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so its spelling is easiest explained by how it's pronounced rather than where it came from. The correct English form is PU, spelled P-U.

Definition

  1. 1
    Alternative form of P U; expression used when encountering a displeasing smell; exaggerated pronunciation of pew.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how PU appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. IMO, this stinks. PU.
  2. THIS NEWSGROUP STINKS PU

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

How do you spell "PU"?
"PU" is spelled P-U.
What does "PU" mean?
As an interjection, "PU" means: Alternative form of P U; expression used when encountering a displeasing smell; exaggerated pronunciation of pew.
What words are commonly confused with "PU"?
"PU" is commonly confused with "PV", "PW", "PX". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
What language does "PU" come from?
"PU" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

What to do next

You've looked up "PU". Here's where to go from here.

  • "PU" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "PV". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #16,315 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "P" letter cohort. P–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list