sheik

/ʃeɪk/

//ʃeɪk// noun

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

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

The verdict

“sheik” has 7 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #25,572. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#25,572
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
7
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - The leader of an Arab village, family or small tribe.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sheik · sheik · English

sheik · rank #25,572 · 7 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #25,572
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 7 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sensibilities

Nearest frequency peer: sensibilities (-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.

Rank peers near misspelling magnet “sheik”

Same rarity band: useful when a typo lands on a peer headword

corpus weight

What this shows “sheik” sits among these FrequencyWords peers; misspelling depth is tracked separately in the edit-distance chart.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026

Visual similarity to commonly confused words

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

sheik vs shi
60% similar
sheik vs sik
60% similar
sheik vs shit
60% similar

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

Key facts for sheik
PropertyValue
Headwordsheik
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ʃeɪk/
Letters5
Frequency rank#25,572
Misspellings tracked7
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “sheik”

Word frequency stretches from the small set of words we reach for constantly (left) out to the long tail barely used once in a while (right).sheiklands here:

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

Scale is logarithmic (each tick is 10× rarer). Same rarity band neighbours include “sensibilities” (#25,571), “shockingly” (#25,573), “sensei” (#25,570). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sheik” is #25,572. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 7 spelling variants around sheik (IPA /ʃeɪk/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #25,572 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 6 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 7 likely wrong-spelling variants for sheik, with forms such as "hseik", "sehik", and "sheikk". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "shi", "sik", "shit", and more, a pairing that trips writers up because the two words share enough sound or shape to blur together.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Arabic شَيْخ (šayḵ, “elder”). Sense 4 (“a romantic lover”) is from the 1921 film The Sheik. The correct English form is sheik, spelled S-H-E-I-K.

Definition

  1. 1
    The leader of an Arab village, family or small tribe.
  2. 2
    An Islamic religious cleric; the master of a Sufi order.
  3. 3
    An official title for members of the royal family as well as some prominent families.
  4. 4
    A romantic lover.
  5. 5
    An Arab, especially one dressed in traditional clothing.
  6. 6
    An honorific for specialists in spirituality, for example in Sufism.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how sheik appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. Tarzan, who, by this time, with the assistance of Abdul, had picked up quite a smattering of Arab, questioned one of the younger men who had accompanied the sheik while the latter paid his respects to Captain Gerard.
  2. He then studied under a variety of scholars (shuyook) and institutes around the world in his quest for authentic knowledge.

Etymology

From Arabic شَيْخ (šayḵ, “elder”). Sense 4 (“a romantic lover”) is from the 1921 film The Sheik.

This word in other languages

jeque(Español)cheik(Français)Scheich(Deutsch)xeique(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hseik
  • sehik
  • sheikk
  • sheki
  • shheik
  • shiek
  • ssheik

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

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

hseik2sehik2sheikk1sheki2shheik1shiek2ssheik1
Edit distance from "sheik"

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 "sheik"?
"sheik" is spelled S-H-E-I-K. The IPA pronunciation is /ʃeɪk/.
What does "sheik" mean?
As a noun, "sheik" means: The leader of an Arab village, family or small tribe.
What words are commonly confused with "sheik"?
"sheik" is commonly confused with "shi", "sik", "shit". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sheik"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sheik" is /ʃeɪk/. 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 "sheik"?
From Arabic شَيْخ (šayḵ, “elder”). Sense 4 (“a romantic lover”) is from the 1921 film The Sheik. 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.

Similar English words by spelling shape

Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "sheik", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 5 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

skunk#25,578sloth#25,579scant#25,564sabha#25,560

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (7 here; floor ≥5).

seater7 variantsspoof7 variantsTonga7 variantspellet7 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list