puke

/pjuːk/

//pjuːk// noun

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

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

The verdict

“puke” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #20,193. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#20,193
frequency rank, English
4,417
“P” headwords
5
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - vomit.

Corpus desk

Index EN-puke · puke · English

puke · rank #20,193 · 5 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #20,193
  • LEN-MID 4 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 5 variants
  • BOOK-MID 4,417
  • PHOTO-FINISH Proverbs

Nearest frequency peer: Proverbs (-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 “puke”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “puke” 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).

puke vs put
50% similar
puke vs pup
50% similar
puke vs pun
50% similar

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

Key facts for puke
PropertyValue
Headwordpuke
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/pjuːk/
Letters4
Frequency rank#20,193
Misspellings tracked5
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “puke” sits in English frequency

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).pukelands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “Proverbs” (#20,192), “puzzled” (#20,194), “prem” (#20,191). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 5 spelling variants around puke (IPA /pjuːk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #20,193 among 4,417 “P” headwords. Wiktionary lists 4 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for puke, with forms such as "pkue", "ppuke", and "puek". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "put", "pup", "pun", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

Etymologically, the entry records: Probably imitative; or, alternatively related to Proto-Germanic *pukaną (“to spit, puff”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”). If so, then related to German pfauchen, fauchen (“to hiss, spit”), Dutch spugen (“to spit, spit up”), German spucke… The correct English form is puke, spelled P-U-K-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    vomit.
  2. 2
    A drug that induces vomiting.
  3. 3
    A worthless, despicable person.
  4. 4
    A person from Missouri.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. 2007, The Guardian, The Guardian Science blog, "The latest in the war on terror: the puke saber" the puke saber … pulses light over rapidly changing wavelengths, apparently inducing "disorientation, nausea and even vomiting"
  2. "at 8 a.m. took a puke of vinum antimoniale; which operated very kindly; was very weak the remainder of the day."

Etymology

Probably imitative; or, alternatively related to Proto-Germanic *pukaną (“to spit, puff”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”). If so, then related to German pfauchen, fauchen (“to hiss, spit”), Dutch spugen (“to spit, spit up”), German spucken (“to spit, puke, throw up”), and Old English spīwan (“to vomit, spit”). More at spew. Attested as early as 1581, first mention is the derivative pukishness (“the tendency to be sick frequently”). In 1600, "to spit up, regurgitate", recorded in the Seven Ages of Man speech in Shakespeare's As You Like It.

Synonyms

vomitrotter

This word in other languages

vómito(Español)vomi(Français)Kotze(Deutsch)vômito(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • pkue
  • ppuke
  • puek
  • pukke
  • upke

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of puke - 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.

pkue2ppuke1puek2pukke1upke2
Edit distance from "puke"

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 "puke"?
"puke" is spelled P-U-K-E. The IPA pronunciation is /pjuːk/.
What does "puke" mean?
As a noun, "puke" means: vomit.
What words are commonly confused with "puke"?
"puke" 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 "puke"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "puke" is /pjuːk/. 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 "puke"?
Probably imitative; or, alternatively related to Proto-Germanic *pukaną (“to spit, puff”), from Proto-Indo-European *bew- (“to blow, swell”). If so, then related to German pfauchen, fauchen (“to hiss, spit”), Dutch spugen (“to spit, spit up”), Ger... 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 "puke", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

prem#20,191pore#20,186Robb#20,213rosy#20,215

Similar misspelling depth

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

FIDE5 variantszeal5 variantsCora5 variantsassay5 variants

What to do next

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

  • "puke" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "put". View pair
  • 5 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
  • Usage frequency rank #20,193 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