puck

/pʌk/

//pʌk// noun

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

"puck" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“puck” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #12,481. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#12,481
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
6
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A mischievous or hostile spirit.

Corpus desk

Index EN-puck · puck · English

puck · rank #12,481 · 6 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #12,481
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 6 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH Pradesh

Nearest frequency peer: Pradesh (-2 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 “puck”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “puck” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

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).

puck vs put
50% similar
puck vs pup
50% similar
puck vs pun
50% similar

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

Key facts for puck
PropertyValue
Headwordpuck
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pʌk/
Letters4
Frequency rank#12,481
Misspellings tracked6
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “puck”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).pucklands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Pradesh” (#12,479), “reconsider” (#12,483), “practitioner” (#12,478). Among 4,417 “P” headwords, “puck” is #12,481. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 6 spelling variants around puck (IPA /pʌk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #12,481 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for puck, with forms such as "pcuk", "ppuck", and "pucck". 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, "put", "pup", "pun", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English pouke, from Old English pūca (“goblin, demon”), from Proto-West Germanic *pūkō, from Proto-Germanic *pūkô (“a goblin, spook”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Old Norse púki (“devil”) (dialectal Swedish puke). Doublet of pooka. The correct English form is puck, spelled P-U-C-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    A mischievous or hostile spirit.
  2. 2
    The mischievous fairy-like creature from English folklore, like Puck from Shakespeare's "A Midsummer Night's Dream".

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. William Tyndale allotted this character a role, of leading nocturnal travellers astray as the puck had been said to do since Anglo-Saxon times and the goblin since the later medieval period.

Etymology

From Middle English pouke, from Old English pūca (“goblin, demon”), from Proto-West Germanic *pūkō, from Proto-Germanic *pūkô (“a goblin, spook”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Old Norse púki (“devil”) (dialectal Swedish puke). Doublet of pooka.

Synonyms

goblin and fairyRobin Goodfellowfaeriefaeryfairyfaysprite

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • pcuk
  • ppuck
  • pucck
  • puckk
  • pukc
  • upck

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of puck - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

pcuk2ppuck1pucck1puckk1pukc2upck2
Edit distance from "puck"

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 "puck"?
"puck" is spelled P-U-C-K. The IPA pronunciation is /pʌk/.
What does "puck" mean?
As a noun, "puck" means: A mischievous or hostile spirit.
What words are commonly confused with "puck"?
"puck" is commonly confused with "put", "pup", "pun". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "puck"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "puck" is /pʌk/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What is the origin of the word "puck"?
From Middle English pouke, from Old English pūca (“goblin, demon”), from Proto-West Germanic *pūkō, from Proto-Germanic *pūkô (“a goblin, spook”), of uncertain origin. Cognate with Old Norse púki (“devil”) (dialectal Swedish puke). Doublet of pooka. See the full etymology section above for more details.
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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "puck", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

rite#12,491Noel#12,467Lana#12,453hash#12,436

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).

womb6 variantsFiona6 variantsding6 variantsdamp6 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list