robe
/ɹəʊb/
"robe" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“robe” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #14,626 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #14,626
- frequency rank, English
- 4
- letters
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A long loose outer garment, often signifying honorary stature.
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 | robe |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɹəʊb/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #14,626 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “robe” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for robe is 4 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ɹəʊb/. Corpus data places it at rank #14,626 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 4 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for robe, with forms such as "orbe", "rboe", and "robbe". 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, "row", "Roy", "Ron", 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 robe, roobe, from Old French robe, robbe, reube (“booty, spoils of war, robe, garment”), from Frankish *rouba, *rauba (“booty, spoils, stolen clothes”, literally “things taken”), from Proto-Germanic *raubō, *raubaz, *raubą (“booty, that … The correct English form is robe, spelled R-O-B-E.
Definition
- 1A long loose outer garment, often signifying honorary stature.
- 2The skin of an animal, especially the bison, dressed with the fur on, and used as a wrap.
- 3A wardrobe, especially one built into a bedroom.
- 4The largest and strongest tobacco leaves.
Etymology
From Middle English robe, roobe, from Old French robe, robbe, reube (“booty, spoils of war, robe, garment”), from Frankish *rouba, *rauba (“booty, spoils, stolen clothes”, literally “things taken”), from Proto-Germanic *raubō, *raubaz, *raubą (“booty, that which is stripped or carried away”), from Proto-Indo-European *Hrewp- (“to tear, peel”). cognates and related terms Akin to Old High German roup (“booty”) (Modern German Raub (“robbery, spoils”)), Old High German roubōn (“to rob, steal”) (Modern German rauben (“to rob”)), Old English rēaf (“spoils, booty, dress, armour, robe, garment”), Old English rēafian (“to steal, deprive”). Cognate with Spanish ropa (“clothing, clothes”). More at rob, reaf, reave.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: orbe,rboe,robbe,roeb,rrobe
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of robe - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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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Using “robe”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is R-O-B-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ɹəʊb/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “row” - see the side-by-side comparison. robe vs row
- 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.