shade
/ʃeɪd/
"shade" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“shade” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #5,548. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #5,548
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
- 7
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Darkness where light, particularly sunlight, is blocked.
Corpus desk
Index EN-shade · shade · English
shade · rank #5,548 · 7 variants · 20 confusables
- FREQ-COMMON #5,548
- LEN-MID 5 letters
- VOW-2 2 vowels
- CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
- VAR-MID 7 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH scratch
Nearest frequency peer: scratch (-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 “shade”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- saints
saints
94,456 corpus weight
- satisfaction
satisfaction
94,455 corpus weight
- scratch
scratch
94,454 corpus weight
- shade
shade
94,453 corpus weight
- sheets
sheets
94,452 corpus weight
- sheriff
sheriff
94,451 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “shade” 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 | shade |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ʃeɪd/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #5,548 |
| Misspellings tracked | 7 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “shade” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 7 spelling variants around shade (IPA /ʃeɪd/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #5,548 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 11 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for shade, with forms such as "hsade", "sahde", and "shadde". 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, "she", "side", "shoe", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.
Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English schade, from Old English sċeadu, sċadu (“shadow; shade”), from Proto-West Germanic *skadu, from Proto-Germanic *skadwaz (“shadow”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃- (“darkness, shadow”). Cognates Cognate with Scots shedda (“shadow”), S… The correct English form is shade, spelled S-H-A-D-E.
Definition
- 1Darkness where light, particularly sunlight, is blocked.
- 2Something that blocks light, particularly in a window.
- 3A variety of a color, in particular one obtained by adding black (compare tint).
- 4A subtle variation in a concept.
- 5An aspect that is reminiscent of something.
- 6A very small degree of a quantity, or variety of meaning
- 7A ghost or specter; a spirit.
- 8A postage stamp showing an obvious difference in colour/color to the original printing and needing a separate catalogue/catalog entry.
- 9Subtle insults.
- 10A cover around or above a light bulb, a lampshade.
- 11A candle-shade.
Recorded use
Wiktionary examplesThese source excerpts show how shade appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
The old oak tree gave shade in the heat of the day.
Temps rose to a sweltering 40 degrees Celsius in the shade.
Etymology
From Middle English schade, from Old English sċeadu, sċadu (“shadow; shade”), from Proto-West Germanic *skadu, from Proto-Germanic *skadwaz (“shadow”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)ḱeh₃- (“darkness, shadow”). Cognates Cognate with Scots shedda (“shadow”), Saterland Frisian Skaad, Skade (“shade, shadow”), West Frisian skaad, skâd (“shade, shadow”), Central Franconian and Limburgish Schatte (“shadow”), Dutch schade, schaduw (“shadow”), German Schatten (“shade, shadow”), German Low German Scharr, Scharre (“shade, shadow”), Luxembourgish Schiet (“shade, shadow”), Vilamovian siota (“shadow”), Yiddish שאָטן (shotn, “shadow”), Faroese skadda (“thick wet mountain fog”), Icelandic skodda, skoddi (“shadow”), Norwegian Bokmål skodde (“fog, mist”), Norwegian Nynorsk skodde, skåddj, skåidd (“fog; ice fog”), Gothic 𐍃𐌺𐌰𐌳𐌿𐍃 (skadus, “shadow”); also Breton skeud (“shadow; reflection; ghost”), Cornish skeus (“shadow; reflection”), Irish scáth (“shadow”), Manx scaa, skæ (“shield; shade, shadow”), Scottish Gaelic sgàth (“shade, shadow”), Latin obscurus (“dark, dusky, shadowy”), Ancient Greek σκότος (skótos, “darkness, gloom”) (whence English scoto-), Belarusian сівы́ (sivý, “grey”), Czech and Slovak sivý (“grey”), Macedonian осој (osoj, “shady place”), Polish siwy (“grey”), Russian си́вый (sívyj, “grey”), Serbo-Croatian сив, siv (“grey”), Slovene osoja (“shady place”), Ukrainian си́вий (sývyj, “grey”), Armenian սեաւ (seaw), սեւ (sew, “black”), Ossetian сау (saw, “black”), Persian سه (sah), سیه (siyah), سیاه (siyâh, “black”), Sanskrit श्याम (śyāma, “black”), श्याव (śyāva, “dark”).
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- hsade
- sahde
- shadde
- shaed
- shdae
- shhade
- sshade
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of shade - 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 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "shade"?
What does "shade" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "shade"?
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "shade", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).
What to do next
You've looked up "shade". Here's where to go from here.
- "shade" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "she". View pair
- 7 edit-distance misspelling variants are generated for spell-check research on this headword. See variants
- Usage frequency rank #5,548 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
- Browse more English words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse
- PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day
PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.
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.