pucker
/ˈpʌkə(ɹ)/
"pucker" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“pucker” is uncommon English (frequency #51,934 among 46,516 “P” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #51,934
- frequency rank, English
- 46,516
- “P” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To pinch or wrinkle (especially a body part); to squeeze inwardly, to dimple or fold.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | pucker |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈpʌkə(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #51,934 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “pucker” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
pucker is uncommon English at frequency #51,934 among 46,516 “P” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈpʌkə(ɹ)/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To pinch or wrinkle (especially a body part); to squeeze inwardly, to dimple or fold.".
Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for pucker, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Origin obscure. Perhaps continuing Middle English pukkeren (“to hoard, save”, literally “to sack, stow away in a poke or bag”) with a change in meaning (compare purse (“to pucker”)). Alternatively, perhaps a direct alteration of poke (verb, or the noun mean… The correct English form is pucker, spelled P-U-C-K-E-R.
Definition
- 1To pinch or wrinkle (especially a body part); to squeeze inwardly, to dimple or fold.
Etymology
Origin obscure. Perhaps continuing Middle English pukkeren (“to hoard, save”, literally “to sack, stow away in a poke or bag”) with a change in meaning (compare purse (“to pucker”)). Alternatively, perhaps a direct alteration of poke (verb, or the noun meaning "a small bag"). By surface analysis, poke + -er.
This word in other languages
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.
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Using “pucker”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is P-U-C-K-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈpʌkə(ɹ)/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.