scourge

/skɜːd͡ʒ/

//skɜːd͡ʒ// noun

By · According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA) ·

"scourge" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“scourge” has 10 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #22,807. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#22,807
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
10
tracked misspellings
6
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A whip, often made of leather and having multiple tails; a lash.

Corpus desk

Index EN-scourge · scourge · English

scourge · rank #22,807 · 10 variants · 6 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #22,807
  • LEN-LONG 7 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 6 pairs
  • VAR-MID 10 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH scholastic

Nearest frequency peer: scholastic (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “scourge”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “scourge” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

scourge vs surge
71% similar
scourge vs source
71% similar
scourge vs splurge
71% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for scourge
PropertyValue
Headwordscourge
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/skɜːd͡ʒ/
Letters7
Frequency rank#22,807
Misspellings tracked10
Confusable pairs6
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “scourge”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).scourgelands here:

#1#100#1K#10K#100K
← used constantlyrarely used →

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “scholastic” (#22,806), “Seville” (#22,808), “shopper” (#22,809). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “scourge” is #22,807. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 10 spelling variants around scourge (IPA /skɜːd͡ʒ/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #22,807 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 10 likely wrong-spelling variants for scourge, with forms such as "csourge", "sccourge", and "scoruge". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 6 confusable-pair relationships, "surge", "source", "splurge", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English scourge (“a lash, whip, scourge; affliction, calamity; person who causes affliction or calamity; shoot of a vine”), and then either: * from Anglo-Norman scorge, escorge, escurge, or Old French scurge, escourge, escorge, escorgiee, escurg… The correct English form is scourge, spelled S-C-O-U-R-G-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A whip, often made of leather and having multiple tails; a lash.
  2. 2
    A person or thing regarded as an agent of divine punishment.
  3. 3
    A source of persistent (and often widespread) pain and suffering or trouble, such as a cruel ruler, disease, pestilence, or war.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how scourge appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. He flogged him with a scourge.
  2. Yf they breake myne ordinaunces, and kepe not my commaundementes. I vil vyſet their offences with the rodde, and their ſynnes with ſcourges.

Etymology

From Middle English scourge (“a lash, whip, scourge; affliction, calamity; person who causes affliction or calamity; shoot of a vine”), and then either: * from Anglo-Norman scorge, escorge, escurge, or Old French scurge, escourge, escorge, escorgiee, escurge (modern French escourgée (“(archaic) whip made of leather strips”)), either: ** from Vulgar Latin *excoriāta (“strip of hide; a scourge”), from Late Latin excoriāre, the present active infinitive of excoriō (“to strip the skin from, to skin”), from Latin ex- (prefix meaning ‘away; out’) + corium (“skin; hide, leather”) (ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ker- (“to cut off, sever; to divide, separate”)); or ** from Latin ex- (intensifying prefix) + corrigia (“a whip”) (from corrigō (“to make right, correct; to reform”), ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₃reǵ- (“to righten; to straighten”)); or * from Middle English scourgen (verb) (see etymology 2). Cognates Italian scuriada, scuriata

This word in other languages

flagelo(Español)écourgée(Français)Geißel(Deutsch)flagelo(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • csourge
  • sccourge
  • scoruge
  • scougre
  • scoureg
  • scourgge
  • scourrge
  • scuorge
  • socurge
  • sscourge

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of scourge - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

csourge2sccourge1scoruge2scougre2scoureg2scourgge1scourrge1scuorge2
Edit distance from "scourge"

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 "scourge"?
"scourge" is spelled S-C-O-U-R-G-E. The IPA pronunciation is /skɜːd͡ʒ/.
What does "scourge" mean?
As a noun, "scourge" means: A whip, often made of leather and having multiple tails; a lash.
What words are commonly confused with "scourge"?
"scourge" is commonly confused with "surge", "source", "splurge". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "scourge"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "scourge" is /skɜːd͡ʒ/. 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 "scourge"?
From Middle English scourge (“a lash, whip, scourge; affliction, calamity; person who causes affliction or calamity; shoot of a vine”), and then either: * from Anglo-Norman scorge, escorge, escurge, or Old French scurge, escourge, escorge, escorgi... 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "scourge", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 7 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

Seville#22,808shopper#22,809signage#22,812riddled#22,797

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (10 here; floor ≥5).

stinks10 variantssulfate10 variantsprequel10 variantsunravel10 variants

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list