Shakespeare
/ˈʃeɪkspɪɹ/
"shakespeare" is a 11-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“Shakespeare” has 16 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #7,178. The variants make it a useful spelling check.
- #7,178
- frequency rank, English
- 54,294
- “S” headwords
- 16
- tracked misspellings
- 1
- confusable pair
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A surname.
Corpus desk
Index EN-shakespeare · Shakespeare · English
Shakespeare · rank #7,178 · 16 variants · 1 confusable
- FREQ-COMMON #7,178
- LEN-MEGA 11 letters
- VOW-5 5 vowels
- CONFUS-LOW 1 pairs
- VAR-HIGH 16 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 54,294
- PHOTO-FINISH shades
Nearest frequency peer: shades (-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 “Shakespeare”
Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)
- recruitment
recruitment
92,826 corpus weight
- screwed
screwed
92,825 corpus weight
- shades
shades
92,824 corpus weight
- Shakespeare
Shakespeare
92,823 corpus weight
- silicon
silicon
92,822 corpus weight
- slice
slice
92,821 corpus weight
What this shows Bars show where “Shakespeare” 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 | Shakespeare |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Proper noun |
| IPA | /ˈʃeɪkspɪɹ/ |
| Letters | 11 |
| Frequency rank | #7,178 |
| Misspellings tracked | 16 |
| Confusable pairs | 1 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “Shakespeare” sits in English frequency
A misspelling magnet
The generator records 16 spelling variants around Shakespeare (IPA /ˈʃeɪkspɪɹ/), aproper noun. Corpus frequency is #7,178 among 54,294 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 5 senses, so context still picks the gloss.
Our generated misspelling index lists 16 likely wrong-spelling variants for Shakespeare, with forms such as "hsakespeare", "sahkespeare", and "shaekspeare". 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 1 confusable-pair relationship, "Shakespearean", a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.
Etymologically, the entry records: A common Middle English surname meaning spearman, corresponding to shake (“to brandish a weapon”) + spear. The correct English form is Shakespeare, spelled S-H-A-K-E-S-P-E-A-R-E.
Definition
- 1A surname.
- 2William Shakespeare, an English playwright and poet of the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries.
- 3His works or media adaptations of his works.
- 4A place name:
- 5A place name:
Etymology
A common Middle English surname meaning spearman, corresponding to shake (“to brandish a weapon”) + spear.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as:
- hsakespeare
- sahkespeare
- shaekspeare
- shakepseare
- shakesepare
- shakespaere
- shakespeaer
- shakespearre
- shakesperae
- shakesppeare
- shakesspeare
- shakkespeare
- shaksepeare
- shhakespeare
- shkaespeare
- sshakespeare
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of Shakespeare - 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.
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 May 6, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you spell "Shakespeare"?
What does "Shakespeare" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "Shakespeare"?
How do you pronounce "Shakespeare"?
What is the origin of the word "Shakespeare"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "Shakespeare", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 11 letters (nearest by frequency rank).
Similar misspelling depth
Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (16 here; floor ≥5).
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.