self
/ˈsɛlf/
"self" is a 4-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“self” has 6 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #564. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #564
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
- 6
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Himself, herself, itself, themself, themselves; that specific (person mentioned).
Corpus desk
Index EN-self · self · English
self · rank #564 · 6 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-CORE #564
- LEN-MID 4 letters
- VOW-1 1 vowel
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 6 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH outside
Nearest frequency peer: outside (-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 “self”
Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword
- himself
himself
99,440 corpus weight
- month
month
99,439 corpus weight
- outside
outside
99,438 corpus weight
- self
self
99,437 corpus weight
- students
students
99,436 corpus weight
- words
words
99,435 corpus weight
What this shows “self” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.
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 | self |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Pronoun |
| IPA | /ˈsɛlf/ |
| Letters | 4 |
| Frequency rank | #564 |
| Misspellings tracked | 6 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “self”
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 6 spelling variants around self (IPA /ˈsɛlf/), apronoun. Corpus frequency is #564 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 2 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 6 likely wrong-spelling variants for self, with forms such as "eslf", "sefl", and "selff". 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, "sf", "SL", "set", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English self, silf, sulf, from Old English self, seolf, sylf, from Proto-Germanic *selbaz. Cognates include Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌻𐌱𐌰 (silba), German selbst and Dutch zelf. The correct English form is self, spelled S-E-L-F.
Definition
- 1Himself, herself, itself, themself, themselves; that specific (person mentioned).
- 2Myself, oneself.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how self appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
This argument was put forward by the defendant self.
Now that I put on my glasses I could see that the hut was empty but for our two selves; that it must have been absolutely empty till we entered.
Etymology
From Middle English self, silf, sulf, from Old English self, seolf, sylf, from Proto-Germanic *selbaz. Cognates include Gothic 𐍃𐌹𐌻𐌱𐌰 (silba), German selbst and Dutch zelf.
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- eslf
- sefl
- selff
- sellf
- slef
- sself
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of self - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "self", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 4 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (6 here; floor ≥5).