scoop
/skuːp/
"scoop" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“scoop” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #11,455 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #11,455
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - Any cup-shaped or bowl-shaped tool, usually with a handle, used to lift and move loose or soft solid material.
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 | scoop |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /skuːp/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #11,455 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “scoop” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for scoop is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /skuːp/. Corpus data places it at rank #11,455 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 16 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for scoop, with forms such as "csoop", "sccoop", and "scoopp". 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, "sop", "SCP", "stop", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English scope, schoupe, a borrowing from Middle Dutch scoep, scuep, schope, schoepe (“bucket for bailing water”) and Middle Dutch schoppe, scoppe, schuppe ("a scoop, shovel"; > Modern Dutch schop (“spade”)), from Proto-Germanic *skuppǭ, *skuppij… The correct English form is scoop, spelled S-C-O-O-P.
Definition
- 1Any cup-shaped or bowl-shaped tool, usually with a handle, used to lift and move loose or soft solid material.
- 2The amount or volume of loose or solid material held by a particular scoop.
- 3The act of scooping, or taking with a scoop or ladle; a motion with a scoop, as in dipping or shovelling.
- 4A story or fact; especially, news learned and reported before anyone else.
- 5An opening in a hood/bonnet or other body panel to admit air, usually for cooling the engine.
- 6The digging attachment on a front-end loader.
- 7A place hollowed out; a basinlike cavity; a hollow.
- 8A spoon-shaped surgical instrument, used in extracting certain substances or foreign bodies.
- 9A special spinal board used by emergency medical service staff that divides laterally to scoop up patients.
- 10A sweep; a stroke; a swoop.
- 11The peak of a cap.
- 12A hole on the playfield that catches a ball, but eventually returns it to play in one way or another.
- 13The raised end of a surfboard.
- 14A kind of floodlight with a reflector.
- 15A haul of money made through speculation.
- 16A note that begins slightly below and slides up to the target pitch.
Etymology
From Middle English scope, schoupe, a borrowing from Middle Dutch scoep, scuep, schope, schoepe (“bucket for bailing water”) and Middle Dutch schoppe, scoppe, schuppe ("a scoop, shovel"; > Modern Dutch schop (“spade”)), from Proto-Germanic *skuppǭ, *skuppijǭ, from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kep- (“to cut, to scrape, to hack”). Cognate with Old Frisian skuppe (“shovel”), Middle Low German schōpe (“scoop, shovel”), German Low German Schüppe, Schüpp (“shovel”), German Schüppe, Schippe (“shovel, spade”). Related to English shovel.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: csoop,sccoop,scoopp,scop,scopo,socop,sscoop
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of scoop - expressed in single-character edits (insert, delete, or swap one letter). Bigger bars stand out at a glance; a one-edit slip is the hardest to catch.
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 "scoop"?
What does "scoop" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "scoop"?
How do you pronounce "scoop"?
What is the origin of the word "scoop"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “scoop”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-C-O-O-P - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /skuːp/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “sop” - see the side-by-side comparison. scoop vs sop
- 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.