seethe

/siːð/

//siːð// verb

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

"seethe" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“seethe” is uncommon English (frequency #77,187 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#77,187
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Of a liquid or other substance, or a container holding it: to be boiled (vigorously); to become boiling hot.

Corpus desk

Index EN-seethe · seethe · English

seethe · rank #77,187 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #77,187
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-3 3 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH segregationist

Nearest frequency peer: segregationist (+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.

Long-tail ranks near “seethe”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “seethe” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for seethe
PropertyValue
Headwordseethe
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/siːð/
Letters6
Frequency rank#77,187
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “seethe” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).seethefalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “segregationist” (#77,188), “scullery” (#77,185), “Scottsboro” (#77,182). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “seethe” is #77,187. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

seethe is uncommon English at frequency #77,187 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /siːð/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 9 senses are on record.

seethe has no tracked misspelling variants, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It is not paired with a close-neighbour confusable in our dataset, a sign it's visually distinctive enough not to be mixed up with another word.

Etymologically, the entry records: The verb is derived from Middle English sethen, seeth (“to boil, seethe; to cook; etc.”) [and other forms], from Old English sēoþan (“to boil, seethe; to cook; etc.”), from Proto-West Germanic *seuþan, from Proto-Germanic *seuþaną (“to boil, seethe”), from … The correct English form is seethe, spelled S-E-E-T-H-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    Of a liquid or other substance, or a container holding it: to be boiled (vigorously); to become boiling hot.
  2. 2
    Of a liquid, vapor, etc., or a container holding it: to foam or froth in an agitated manner, as if boiling.
  3. 3
    Of a person: to be in an agitated or angry mental state, often in a way that is not obvious to others.
  4. 4
    Of a place: to be filled with many people or things moving about actively; to buzz with activity; also, of people or things: to move about actively in a crowd or group.
  5. 5
    Of a place: to have inhabitants in an angry or disaffected mood; to be in a state of unrest.
  6. 6
    To overboil (something) so that it loses its flavour or texture; hence (figurative), to cause (the body, the mind, the spirit, etc.) to become dull through too much alcoholic drink or heat.
  7. 7
    To soak (something) in a liquid; to drench, to steep.
  8. 8
    To boil (something); especially, to cook (food) by boiling or stewing; also, to keep (something) boiling.
  9. 9
    Of the stomach: to digest (food).

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. [W]hen a pot ſeetheth, if we lade it and moove the liquor up and down, even while it ſeetheth, we ſhall make it quiet.
  2. Deep Hell! that seethest in thy simmering pit; / Thy thousand throned horrors shall not vie, / Or ever compass it!

Etymology

The verb is derived from Middle English sethen, seeth (“to boil, seethe; to cook; etc.”) [and other forms], from Old English sēoþan (“to boil, seethe; to cook; etc.”), from Proto-West Germanic *seuþan, from Proto-Germanic *seuþaną (“to boil, seethe”), from Proto-Indo-European *h₂sewt-, *h₂sew-, *h₂sut- (“to move about, roil, seethe”). The noun is derived from the verb. Cognates * Albanian zjej (“to boil, seethe”) * Danish syde (“to seethe, boil”) * Dutch zieden (“to boil, seethe”) * German sieden (“to boil, seethe”) * Gothic 𐍃𐌰𐌿𐌸𐍃 (sauþs, “burnt offering, sacrifice”) * Icelandic sjóða (“to boil, seethe”) * Low German seden (“to seethe”) * Norwegian Bokmål syde (“to boil, seethe”) * Norwegian Nynorsk sjoda, syda (“to boil, seethe”) * Scots seth, seith (“to seethe”) * Swedish sjuda (“to boil, seethe”) * West Frisian siede (“to boil”)

This word in other languages

hervir(Español)bouillonner(Français)sieden(Deutsch)fervilhar(Português)

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 "seethe"?
"seethe" is spelled S-E-E-T-H-E. The IPA pronunciation is /siːð/.
What does "seethe" mean?
As a verb, "seethe" means: Of a liquid or other substance, or a container holding it: to be boiled (vigorously); to become boiling hot.
How do you pronounce "seethe"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "seethe" is /siːð/. 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 "seethe"?
The verb is derived from Middle English sethen, seeth (“to boil, seethe; to cook; etc.”) [and other forms], from Old English sēoþan (“to boil, seethe; to cook; etc.”), from Proto-West Germanic *seuþan, from Proto-Germanic *seuþaną (“to boil, seeth... 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 "seethe", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

slants#77,203soaker#77,214ribose#77,148stably#77,229

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list