shaft

/ʃɑːft/

//ʃɑːft// noun

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

"shaft" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“shaft” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #8,347 in English word frequency and used as a noun.

#8,347
frequency rank, English
5
letters
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - The entire body of a long weapon, such as an arrow.

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).

shaft vs shit
60% similar
shaft vs shot
60% similar
shaft vs shut
60% similar

Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).

Key facts for shaft
PropertyValue
Headwordshaft
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ʃɑːft/
Letters5
Frequency rank#8,347
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “shaft” sits in English frequency

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

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for shaft is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ʃɑːft/. Corpus data places it at rank #8,347 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 17 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for shaft, with forms such as "hsaft", "sahft", and "shafft". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "shit", "shot", "shut", 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 schaft, from Old English sċeaft, from Proto-West Germanic *skaft, from Proto-Germanic *skaftaz. Cognate with Dutch schacht, German German Schaft, Swedish skaft. In Early Modern English, shaft referred to the entire body of a long weapon,… The correct English form is shaft, spelled S-H-A-F-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    The entire body of a long weapon, such as an arrow.
  2. 2
    The long, narrow, central body of a spear, arrow, or javelin.
  3. 3
    Anything cast or thrown as a spear or javelin.
  4. 4
    Any long thin object, such as the handle of a tool.
  5. 5
    Any long thin object, such as the handle of a tool.
  6. 6
    Any long thin object, such as the handle of a tool.
  7. 7
    A beam or ray of light.
  8. 8
    The main axis of a feather.
  9. 9
    A vertical or inclined passage sunk into the earth as part of a mine.
  10. 10
    A vertical passage housing a lift or elevator.
  11. 11
    A ventilation or heating conduit.
  12. 12
    Any column or pillar, particularly the body of a column between its capital and pedestal.
  13. 13
    The main cylindrical part of the penis.
  14. 14
    The chamber of a blast furnace.
  15. 15
    A relatively small area of precipitation that an onlook can discern from the dry surrounding area.
  16. 16
    A component of a loom which holds the heddles and is raised by treadles to create the shed.
  17. 17
    An act of sexual intercourse.

Etymology

From Middle English schaft, from Old English sċeaft, from Proto-West Germanic *skaft, from Proto-Germanic *skaftaz. Cognate with Dutch schacht, German German Schaft, Swedish skaft. In Early Modern English, shaft referred to the entire body of a long weapon, such that an arrow's “shaft” was composed of its tip, stale, and fletching. Over time, the word came to be used in place of the former stale and lost its original meaning.

This word in other languages

asta(Español)hampe(Français)Schaft(Deutsch)haste(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as: hsaft,sahft,shafft,shaftt,shatf,shfat,shhaft,sshaft

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of shaft - 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.

hsaft2sahft2shafft1shaftt1shatf2shfat2shhaft1sshaft1
Edit distance from "shaft"

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 "shaft"?
"shaft" is spelled S-H-A-F-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ʃɑːft/.
What does "shaft" mean?
As a noun, "shaft" means: The entire body of a long weapon, such as an arrow.
What words are commonly confused with "shaft"?
"shaft" is commonly confused with "shit", "shot", "shut". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "shaft"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "shaft" is /ʃɑːft/. 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 "shaft"?
From Middle English schaft, from Old English sċeaft, from Proto-West Germanic *skaft, from Proto-Germanic *skaftaz. Cognate with Dutch schacht, German German Schaft, Swedish skaft. In Early Modern English, shaft referred to the entire body of a lo... 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.

Using “shaft”

The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.

  • The one correct English spelling is S-H-A-F-T - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • Say it as /ʃɑːft/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
  • Don't mix it up with “shit” - see the side-by-side comparison. shaft vs shit
  • 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.

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list FrequencyWords open word-frequency list