shepherd's pie

noun

"shepherd-s-pie" is a 12-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“shepherd's pie” is outside the top-ranked English vocabulary, used as a noun - the kind of word writers most often double-check.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
14
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A meat pie having a mashed potato crust, especially one made with lamb or mutton.

Key facts for shepherd's pie
PropertyValue
Headwordshepherd's pie
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
Letters14
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “shepherd's pie” sits in English frequency

shepherd's pie falls outside the top-100,000 ranked English words, the long-tail zone of technical, archaic, or low-frequency vocabulary, exactly where readers second-guess spellings most.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Spelling & Dictionary Insight

The English entry for shepherd's pie is 14 letters long, classified as a noun. It sits outside the most-frequent rank tiers, which is often why uncommon words generate more spelling variants per reader. The dominant gloss from Wiktionary reads: "A meat pie having a mashed potato crust, especially one made with lamb or mutton.".

We couldn't generate a plausible misspelling set for shepherd's pie, suggesting the orthography follows predictable English patterns. This headword has no recorded confusable partner, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.

No borrowing history is documented for this entry, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is shepherd's pie, spelled S-H-E-P-H-E-R-D-'-S- -P-I-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    A meat pie having a mashed potato crust, especially one made with lamb or mutton.

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). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "shepherd's pie"?
"shepherd's pie" is spelled S-H-E-P-H-E-R-D-'-S- -P-I-E.
What does "shepherd's pie" mean?
As a noun, "shepherd's pie" means: A meat pie having a mashed potato crust, especially one made with lamb or mutton.
What language does "shepherd's pie" come from?
"shepherd's pie" is a English word. PlainSpell covers definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data across English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German.
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 “shepherd's pie”

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

  • The one correct English spelling is S-H-E-P-H-E-R-D-'-S- -P-I-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
  • 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