seem
/siːm/
"seem" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“seem” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #883) as a verb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.
- #883
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
- 4
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 2, 2026) - To appear; to look outwardly; to be perceived as.
Corpus desk
Index EN-seem · seem · English
seem · rank #883 · 4 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-CORE #883
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-LOW 4 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH race
Nearest frequency peer: race (-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 “seem”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- Michael
Michael
99,121 corpus weight
- pick
pick
99,120 corpus weight
- race
race
99,119 corpus weight
- seem
seem
99,118 corpus weight
- seven
seven
99,117 corpus weight
- sign
sign
99,116 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “seem” 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 | seem |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /siːm/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #883 |
| Misspellings tracked | 4 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “seem” sits in English frequency
Easy to mix with look-alikes
The spelling risk for seem is neighbouring look-alikes ("SM", "she", …), not just typos; it is averb pronounced /siːm/. Frequency #883 among 6,566 “S” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.
Our generated misspelling index lists 4 likely wrong-spelling variants for seem, with forms such as "esem", "seemm", and "seme". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "SM", "she", "set", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English semen (“to seem, befit, be becoming”), from Old Norse sœma (“to conform to, beseem, befit”), from Proto-Germanic *sōmijaną (“to unite, fit”), from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one; whole”). Cognate with Scots seme (“to be fitting; beseem”… The correct English form is seem, spelled S-E-E-M.
Definition
- 1To appear; to look outwardly; to be perceived as.
- 2To befit; to beseem.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how seem appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
She is seeming a bit down these days. Her eyes seem blue. It must have seemed to her she was safe. How'd she seem to you? He seems not to be at home. "It seems like rain". "It seems to me (to be) rather sleety."; "There seem to be a few problems."
It seems a pity, but I can't see you this weekend.
Etymology
From Middle English semen (“to seem, befit, be becoming”), from Old Norse sœma (“to conform to, beseem, befit”), from Proto-Germanic *sōmijaną (“to unite, fit”), from Proto-Indo-European *sem- (“one; whole”). Cognate with Scots seme (“to be fitting; beseem”), Danish sømme (“to beseem”), Old Swedish søma, Faroese søma (“to be proper”). Related also to Old Norse sómi (“honour”) ( > archaic Danish somme (“decent comportment”)), Old Norse sœmr (“fitting, seemly”), Old English sēman (“to reconcile, bring an agreement”), Old English sōm (“agreement”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- esem
- seemm
- seme
- sseem
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of seem - 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.
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 2, 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 "seem", not the corpus desk frequency band.
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.