ruse
/ɹuːz/
"ruse" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“ruse” has 5 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #23,664. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #23,664
- frequency rank, English
- 3,094
- “R” headwords
- 5
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A turning or doubling back, especially of animals to get out of the way of hunting dogs.
Corpus desk
Index EN-ruse · ruse · English
ruse · rank #23,664 · 5 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-MID #23,664
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 5 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,094
- PHOTO-FINISH Salvatore
Nearest frequency peer: Salvatore (+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 “ruse”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- rosary
rosary
76,340 corpus weight
- rundown
rundown
76,339 corpus weight
- ruse
ruse
76,337 corpus weight
- Salvatore
Salvatore
76,336 corpus weight
- Sampson
Sampson
76,335 corpus weight
- Sar
Sar
76,334 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “ruse” 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 | ruse |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ɹuːz/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #23,664 |
| Misspellings tracked | 5 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “ruse” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 5 spelling variants around ruse (IPA /ɹuːz/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #23,664 among 3,094 “R” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 5 likely wrong-spelling variants for ruse, with forms such as "rruse", "rsue", and "rues". 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, "rye", "rut", "rush", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English rūse (“evasive movements of a pursued animal; circuitous course taken by a hunter to pursue a game animal”), from Old French rëuse, ruse (“evasive movements of a pursued animal; trickery”) (modern French ruse (“trick, ruse; cunning, guil… The correct English form is ruse, spelled R-U-S-E.
Definition
- 1A turning or doubling back, especially of animals to get out of the way of hunting dogs.
- 2An action intended to deceive; a trick.
- 3Cunning, guile, trickery.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how ruse appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The boar was evidently most averse to leave the field in which he had spent so may pleasant hours of uninterrupted rest; […] He turned sharply to one flank; he stopped dead, and went away in the opposite direction as he heard the hunters gallop past; every ruse he tried, but tried in vain.
Near-synonyms: ploy, stratagem
Etymology
From Middle English rūse (“evasive movements of a pursued animal; circuitous course taken by a hunter to pursue a game animal”), from Old French rëuse, ruse (“evasive movements of a pursued animal; trickery”) (modern French ruse (“trick, ruse; cunning, guile”)), from ruser (“to use cunning, to be crafty, beguile”), possibly from Latin rursus (“backward; on the contrary; again, in return”) or Latin recūsāre, from recūsō (“to decline, refuse; to object to, protest, reject”). Doublet of recuse and rouse in the latter case. The verb is derived from the noun. Compare Middle French ruser (“to use cunning, to be crafty, beguile”); see further above.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- rruse
- rsue
- rues
- russe
- urse
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of ruse - 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.
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
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "ruse", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (5 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "ruse". Here's where to go from here.
- "ruse" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "rye". View pair
- 5 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #23,664 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.