schmo
/ʃməʊ/
"schmo" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“schmo” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 5
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A stupid, obnoxious, pathetic, or otherwise contemptible person; a schmuck.
Corpus desk
Index EN-schmo · schmo · English
schmo · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "S" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
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.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | schmo |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ʃməʊ/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “schmo” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
schmo is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as anoun, transcribed /ʃməʊ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "A stupid, obnoxious, pathetic, or otherwise contemptible person; a schmuck.".
No misspelling variants are generated for schmo in our index, since its letter sequence doesn't invite the usual edit-distance slips. We don't track a confusable pairing for this entry, which usually means its spelling is distinct enough that readers don't reach for a similar-looking word instead.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Yiddish, alteration of schmuck. Compare also Russian чмо (čmo, “jerk, schmuck”). The correct English form is schmo, spelled S-C-H-M-O.
Definition
- 1A stupid, obnoxious, pathetic, or otherwise contemptible person; a schmuck.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how schmo appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The poor schmo would immediately break down and confess that he did a lot of other bad things as well.
Etymology
From Yiddish, alteration of schmuck. Compare also Russian чмо (čmo, “jerk, schmuck”).
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
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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.