shearwater
"shearwater" is a 10-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“shearwater” is uncommon English (frequency #92,059 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a noun. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #92,059
- frequency rank, English
- 6,566
- “S” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Any of the long-winged pelagic seabirds of the family Procellariidae in genera Puffinus, Ardenna, and Calonectris, that breed on islands and coastal cliffs.
Corpus desk
Index EN-shearwater · shearwater · English
shearwater · rank #92,059 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #92,059
- LEN-MEGA 10 letters
- VOW-4 4 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-DENSE 6,566
- PHOTO-FINISH Sheetrock
Nearest frequency peer: Sheetrock (+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.
Long-tail ranks near “shearwater”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- serological
serological
7,947 corpus weight
- Severa
Severa
7,945 corpus weight
- shearwater
shearwater
7,942 corpus weight
- Sheetrock
Sheetrock
7,941 corpus weight
- Shema
Shema
7,940 corpus weight
- shoeshine
shoeshine
7,937 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “shearwater” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | shearwater |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| Letters | 10 |
| Frequency rank | #92,059 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “shearwater” in English
Rare enough to double-check
shearwater is uncommon English at frequency #92,059 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as anoun. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 2 senses are on record.
Zero misspellings are on record for shearwater in our index, since its letter pattern doesn't lend itself to common typo substitutions. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, since no other headword is close enough in sound or shape to pair with it.
Etymologically, the entry records: From shear + water. The correct English form is shearwater, spelled S-H-E-A-R-W-A-T-E-R.
Definition
- 1Any of the long-winged pelagic seabirds of the family Procellariidae in genera Puffinus, Ardenna, and Calonectris, that breed on islands and coastal cliffs.
- 2Any of the entire family Procellariidae, including certain of the petrels.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how shearwater appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
At first I would not eat a frigate bird, a booby or a shearwater, but after a few months on the island I tried one broiled over coconut-shell coals, and I have never since missed an opportunity for such a feast.
Etymology
From shear + water.
Synonyms
This word in other languages
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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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "shearwater", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 10 letters (nearest by frequency rank).