scuff
/skʌf/
"scuff" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“scuff” is uncommon English (frequency #56,421 among 54,294 “S” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #56,421
- frequency rank, English
- 54,294
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To scrape the feet while walking.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | scuff |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /skʌf/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #56,421 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “scuff” sits in English frequency
Rare enough to double-check
scuff is uncommon English at frequency #56,421 among 54,294 “S” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /skʌf/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 4 senses are on record.
scuff has no tracked misspelling variants, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. Our dataset records no confusable match here, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Scots scuff (“to touch lightly, graze, hit”), of obscure origin. Perhaps from Old Norse skúfa (“to shove, push aside”), from Proto-Germanic *skeubaną (“to shove”). Or, perhaps imitative. More at shove. The correct English form is scuff, spelled S-C-U-F-F.
Definition
- 1To scrape the feet while walking.
- 2To scrape and roughen the surface of (shoes, etc.)
- 3To hit lightly, to brush against.
- 4To mishit (a shot on a ball) due to poor contact with the ball.
Etymology
From Scots scuff (“to touch lightly, graze, hit”), of obscure origin. Perhaps from Old Norse skúfa (“to shove, push aside”), from Proto-Germanic *skeubaną (“to shove”). Or, perhaps imitative. More at shove.
This word in other languages
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 “scuff”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-C-U-F-F - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /skʌf/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Other uncommon English words near this rank
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.