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” is in the everyday core of English, ranked #480 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#480
frequency rank, English
3
letters
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 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.

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.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for red is 3 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹɛd/. Corpus data places it at rank #480 in overall English word frequency, putting it firmly in the everyday core of the language. Wiktionary records 15 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

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.

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.

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.

Using “red”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is R-E-D - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ɹɛd/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “RS” - see the side-by-side comparison. red vs RS
  • Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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 FrequencyWords open word-frequency list