# shag

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈʃæɡ/ · frequency rank #28,359

## Definitions
1. Matted material; rough massed hair, fibres etc.
2. Coarse shredded tobacco.
3. A type of rough carpet pile.
4. Bacon or fat, especially if with some remaining hair or bristles.
5. A roughly-cut or torn-off piece of bread or cheese.
6. A deliberately messy, shaggy hairstyle.

## Etymology
Etymology tree
Old English sċeacga
Middle English *schagge
English shag
From Middle English *schagge, from Old English sċeacga (“hair, wool”), from Proto-Germanic *skaggô, *skaggiją (“projection, bristly hair, stem”), *skag- (“to emerge, stick out, protrude”), possibly from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kek- (“to jump, move, hurry”).
Akin to Old Norse skegg (“beard”) (compare Danish skæg, Norwegian skjegg, Swedish skägg). Related to shake and shock via the root.

## Easily confused with
- **she** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shag-vs-she)
- **shy** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shag-vs-shy)
- **spa** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shag-vs-spa)
- **shi** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shag-vs-shi)
- **STA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shag-vs-sta)
- **sig** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shag-vs-sig)
- **sho** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shag-vs-sho)
- **sia** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shag-vs-sia)
- **ska** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shag-vs-ska)
- **shh** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shag-vs-shh)
- **SMA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shag-vs-sma)
- **SoA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shag-vs-soa)
- **SSA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shag-vs-ssa)
- **SLA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shag-vs-sla)
- **SVG** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shag-vs-svg)
- **SNA** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shag-vs-sna)
- **show** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shag-vs-show)
- **shit** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shag-vs-shit)
- **stay** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shag-vs-stay)
- **song** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/shag-vs-song)

## Common misspellings (6)
`hsag`, `sahg`, `shagg`, `shga`, `shhag`, `sshag`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/shag