shackle
/ˈʃækl̩/
"shackle" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“shackle” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #49,630 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #49,630
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 11
- tracked misspellings
- 5
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain.
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 | shackle |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ˈʃækl̩/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #49,630 |
| Misspellings tracked | 11 |
| Confusable pairs | 5 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “shackle” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for shackle is 7 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈʃækl̩/. Corpus data places it at rank #49,630 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 11 likely wrong-spelling variants for shackle, with forms such as "hsackle", "sahckle", and "shacckle". 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 5 confusable-pair relationships, "shake", "shale", "sickle", 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 shakel, schakkyl, schakle (“a fetter, shackle; coupling used to connect a plough or wagon to a draft chain”), from Old English sċacul, sċeacel, sċeacul (“fetter, shackle”), from Proto-West Germanic *skakul, from Proto-Germanic *skakulaz … The correct English form is shackle, spelled S-H-A-C-K-L-E.
Definition
- 1A restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain.
- 2A restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain.
- 3A restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain.
- 4A restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain.
- 5A restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain.
- 6A restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain.
- 7A restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain.
- 8A restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain.
- 9A restraint on one's action, activity, or progress.
- 10A length of cable or chain equal to 12½ fathoms (75 feet or about 22.9 metres), or later to 15 fathoms (90 feet or about 27.4 metres).
Etymology
From Middle English shakel, schakkyl, schakle (“a fetter, shackle; coupling used to connect a plough or wagon to a draft chain”), from Old English sċacul, sċeacel, sċeacul (“fetter, shackle”), from Proto-West Germanic *skakul, from Proto-Germanic *skakulaz (“shackle”), possibly from *skakaną (“to shake; to swing; to escape”), from Proto-Indo-European *skeg-, *skek- (“to shake; to stir”). However, this is doubted by the Oxford English Dictionary because *skeg-, *skek- lack the meaning of attaching or fastening. Etymology 1 sense 3 (“length of cable or chain equal to 12½ or 15 fathoms”) derives from the original distance between two shackles (etymology 1 sense 1.1.3) connecting lengths of cable or chain together. Cognates * Danish skagle (“carriage trace”) * Dutch schakel (“clasp; link; shackle”) * German Schäckel (“shackle”) * Icelandic skökull (“carriage pole”) * Swedish skakel (“loose shaft of a carriage”)
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hsackle,sahckle,shacckle,shackel,shackkle,shacklle,shaclke,shakcle,shcakle,shhackle,sshackle
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of shackle - 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.
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 “shackle”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-H-A-C-K-L-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈʃækl̩/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “shake” - see the side-by-side comparison. shackle vs shake
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
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.