red

/ɹɛd/

//ɹɛd// noun

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

"red" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“red” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #480) as a noun. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#480
frequency rank, English
3,094
“R” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The colour of the setting sun, blood, and strawberries; the colour which is evoked by the longest visible wavelengths (between about 625–740 nm), and a primary additive colour.

Corpus desk

Index EN-red · red · English

red · rank #480 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-CORE #480
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-MID 3,094
  • PHOTO-FINISH reason

Nearest frequency peer: reason (-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 “red”

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

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “red” 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).

red vs RS
0% similar
red vs RT
0% similar
red vs RM
0% similar

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

Key facts for red
PropertyValue
Headwordred
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ɹɛd/
Letters3
Frequency rank#480
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “red” sits in English frequency

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right). red lands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for red is neighbouring look-alikes ("RS", "RT", …), not just typos; it is anoun pronounced /ɹɛd/. Frequency #480 among 3,094 “R” headwords. 15 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

Our edit-distance generator produced no likely misspellings for red, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "RS", "RT", "RM", 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 red, from Old English rēad, from Proto-West Germanic *raud, from Proto-Germanic *raudaz from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rowdʰós, from the root *h₁rewdʰ-. Cognates See also West Frisian read, Low German root, rood, rot, rod, Dutch rood, Germa… The correct English form is red, spelled R-E-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    The colour of the setting sun, blood, and strawberries; the colour which is evoked by the longest visible wavelengths (between about 625–740 nm), and a primary additive colour.
  2. 2
    A revolutionary socialist or (most commonly) a Communist; (usually capitalized) a Bolshevik, a supporter of the Bolsheviks in the Russian Civil War.
  3. 3
    One of the 15 red balls used in snooker, distinguished from the colours.
  4. 4
    Red wine.
  5. 5
    Any of several varieties of ale which are brewed with red or kilned malt, giving the beer a red colour.
  6. 6
    A red variety of an animal, such as a red kangaroo or a red squirrel.
  7. 7
    A redshank.
  8. 8
    An American Indian.
  9. 9
    The drug secobarbital; a capsule of this drug.
  10. 10
    A red light (a traffic signal)
  11. 11
    Red lemonade
  12. 12
    One of the three color charges for quarks.
  13. 13
    Chili con carne (usually in the phrase "bowl of red").
  14. 14
    The redfish or red drum, Sciaenops ocellatus, a fish with reddish fins and scales.
  15. 15
    Tomato ketchup.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. Red can be seen as hot or angry.
  2. And although we’ve certainly seen a variety of blue shades — from periwinkle to cobalt and even Dean Cain’s indigo-washed costume from the 1990’s TV show “Lois & Clark” — Superman’s uniform is still instantly recognizable across generations. In fact, there is only one film — Zack Snyder’s 2013 “Man of Steel” — in which Superman does not wear his iconic re…

Etymology

From Middle English red, from Old English rēad, from Proto-West Germanic *raud, from Proto-Germanic *raudaz from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rowdʰós, from the root *h₁rewdʰ-. Cognates See also West Frisian read, Low German root, rood, rot, rod, Dutch rood, German rot, Danish and Norwegian Bokmål rød, Norwegian Nynorsk raud; also Welsh rhudd, Latin ruber, rufus, Tocharian A rtär, Tocharian B ratre, Ancient Greek ἐρυθρός (eruthrós), Albanian pruth (“redhead”), Russian ру́дый (rúdyj) ("red", "redhaired"). Czech rudý, Lithuanian raúdas, Finnish rauta, Estonian raud, Serbo-Croatian riđ ("reddish", "red"), Avestan 𐬭𐬀𐬊𐬌𐬛𐬌𐬙𐬀 (raoidita), Sanskrit रुधिर (rudhirá, “red, bloody”).

Synonyms

carminecinnabarclaretcrimsonroséscarletvermilion

This word in other languages

rojo(Español)rouge(Français)Rot(Deutsch)vermelho(Português)

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "red"?
"red" is spelled R-E-D. The IPA pronunciation is /ɹɛd/.
What does "red" mean?
As a noun, "red" means: The colour of the setting sun, blood, and strawberries; the colour which is evoked by the longest visible wavelengths (between about 625–740 nm), and a primary additive colour.
What words are commonly confused with "red"?
"red" is commonly confused with "RS", "RT", "RM". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "red"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "red" is /ɹɛd/. 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 "red"?
From Middle English red, from Old English rēad, from Proto-West Germanic *raud, from Proto-Germanic *raudaz from Proto-Indo-European *h₁rowdʰós, from the root *h₁rewdʰ-. Cognates See also West Frisian read, Low German root, rood, rot, rod, Dutch r... 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 "red", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

buy#476age#475low#468ACT#497

What to do next

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

  • "red" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "RS". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #480 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list