radar
/ˈɹeɪdɑː/
"radar" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“radar” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,160. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #5,160
- frequency rank, English
- 3,094
- “R” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - In full primary radar: a method of detecting a distant object and determining its position, velocity, or other characteristics by analysing radio waves (usually microwaves) which are sent towards t...
Corpus desk
Index EN-radar · radar · English
radar · rank #5,160 · 7 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #5,160
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,094
- PHOTO-FINISH punk
Nearest frequency peer: punk (-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 “radar”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- proposals
proposals
94,844 corpus weight
- punk
punk
94,842 corpus weight
- radar
radar
94,841 corpus weight
- regards
regards
94,840 corpus weight
- relatives
relatives
94,839 corpus weight
- resist
resist
94,838 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “radar” 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 | radar |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈɹeɪdɑː/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #5,160 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “radar” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around radar (IPA /ˈɹeɪdɑː/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,160 among 3,094 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for radar, with forms such as "ardar", "raadr", and "radarr". 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, "rear", "roar", "raja", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: The noun is derived from RADAR by anacronymic evolution. RADAR is an acronym of ra(dio) d(etection) a(nd) r(anging) which was coined by Lieutenant-Commander Samuel M. Tucker and Lieutenant-Commander F. R. Furth of the United States Navy in November 1940. Th… The correct English form is radar, spelled R-A-D-A-R.
Definition
- 1In full primary radar: a method of detecting a distant object and determining its position, velocity, or other characteristics by analysing radio waves (usually microwaves) which are sent towards the object and which reflect off its surfaces; also, the field of study of this method.
- 2In full primary radar: a method of detecting a distant object and determining its position, velocity, or other characteristics by analysing radio waves (usually microwaves) which are sent towards the object and which reflect off its surfaces; also, the field of study of this method.
- 3In full primary radar: a method of detecting a distant object and determining its position, velocity, or other characteristics by analysing radio waves (usually microwaves) which are sent towards the object and which reflect off its surfaces; also, the field of study of this method.
- 4In full primary radar: a method of detecting a distant object and determining its position, velocity, or other characteristics by analysing radio waves (usually microwaves) which are sent towards the object and which reflect off its surfaces; also, the field of study of this method.
- 5Often preceded by a descriptive word: a natural (for example, in an animal such as a bat) or human-made detection method based on the analysis of reflected signals other than radio waves, as light waves or sound waves; (countable) an instance of this.
- 6A superior ability to detect something; an awareness, an intuition.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how radar appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
They were able to find the enemy fleet using radar.
Although operational environments profoundly differ, both kinds of autonomous vehicles, groundcraft and aircraft, will still rely on conceptually the same sorts of sensors — cameras, radar and lidar — to perceive surroundings in real time.
Etymology
The noun is derived from RADAR by anacronymic evolution. RADAR is an acronym of ra(dio) d(etection) a(nd) r(anging) which was coined by Lieutenant-Commander Samuel M. Tucker and Lieutenant-Commander F. R. Furth of the United States Navy in November 1940. The verb is probably derived from the noun.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- ardar
- raadr
- radarr
- raddar
- radra
- rdaar
- rradar
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of radar - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "radar", 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).
What to do next
You've looked up "radar". Here's where to go from here.
- "radar" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "rear". View pair
- 7 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #5,160 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "R" letter cohort. R–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.