sherry

/ˈʃɛɹi/

//ˈʃɛɹi// noun

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

"sherry" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sherry” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #17,241. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#17,241
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
14
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - A fortified wine produced in Jerez de la Frontera in Spain, or a similar wine produced elsewhere.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sherry · sherry · English

sherry · rank #17,241 · 8 variants · 14 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #17,241
  • LEN-LONG 6 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-MID 14 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH shedding

Nearest frequency peer: shedding (-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 “sherry”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “sherry” 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).

sherry vs sorry
67% similar
sherry vs surry
67% similar
sherry vs sierra
67% similar

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

Key facts for sherry
PropertyValue
Headwordsherry
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ˈʃɛɹi/
Letters6
Frequency rank#17,241
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs14
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “sherry”

This scale runs from the tiny cluster of words that carry ordinary speech (left) to the long tail of words almost nobody reaches for (right).sherrylands here:

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Same rarity band neighbours include “shedding” (#17,240), “shitting” (#17,242), “shear” (#17,239). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “sherry” is #17,241. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around sherry (IPA /ˈʃɛɹi/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #17,241 among 6,566 “S” headwords. Wiktionary lists 3 senses, so context still picks the gloss.

Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for sherry, with forms such as "hserry", "sehrry", and "sherryy". Each variant is a distinct typo pattern an edit-distance generator flags, typically a doubled-consonant error, a silent-letter drop, or a vowel substitution. It also participates in 14 confusable-pair relationships, "sorry", "surry", "sierra", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: Back-formation of earlier sherris (interpreted as a plural), from Spanish (vino de) Xeres (“wine of Xeres”), Xeres being the former spelling of Jerez (pronounced /ʃeˈɾes/ in early modern Andalusian Spanish). The correct English form is sherry, spelled S-H-E-R-R-Y.

Definition

  1. 1
    A fortified wine produced in Jerez de la Frontera in Spain, or a similar wine produced elsewhere.
  2. 2
    A variety of sherry.
  3. 3
    A glass of sherry.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He gazed around until on the lid of a spinet he spotted a promising collection of bottles, gin, whiskey, vermouth and sherry, mixed with violin bows, a flute, a toppling pile of books, six volumes of Grove's Dictionary mingled with paperback thrillers, a guitar without any strings, a pair of binoculars, a meerschaum pipe and a jar half-full of wasps and a…
  2. They produce several quality sherries.

Etymology

Back-formation of earlier sherris (interpreted as a plural), from Spanish (vino de) Xeres (“wine of Xeres”), Xeres being the former spelling of Jerez (pronounced /ʃeˈɾes/ in early modern Andalusian Spanish).

This word in other languages

jerez(Español)xérès(Français)Sherry(Deutsch)xerez(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hserry
  • sehrry
  • sherryy
  • shery
  • sheryr
  • shherry
  • shrery
  • ssherry

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of sherry - counted as single-character edits (an insertion, a deletion, or a substituted letter). The larger the bar, the easier the typo is to spot; one-edit slips are the ones that sneak past readers.

hserry2sehrry2sherryy1shery1sheryr2shherry1shrery2ssherry1
Edit distance from "sherry"

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 "sherry"?
"sherry" is spelled S-H-E-R-R-Y. The IPA pronunciation is /ˈʃɛɹi/.
What does "sherry" mean?
As a noun, "sherry" means: A fortified wine produced in Jerez de la Frontera in Spain, or a similar wine produced elsewhere.
What words are commonly confused with "sherry"?
"sherry" is commonly confused with "sorry", "surry", "sierra". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sherry"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sherry" is /ˈʃɛɹi/. 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 "sherry"?
Back-formation of earlier sherris (interpreted as a plural), from Spanish (vino de) Xeres (“wine of Xeres”), Xeres being the former spelling of Jerez (pronounced /ʃeˈɾes/ in early modern Andalusian Spanish). 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 "sherry", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

scrape#17,236smiley#17,247Sahara#17,234strife#17,254

Similar misspelling depth

Headwords with a similar count of attested misspellings (8 here; floor ≥5).

uterus8 variantsopenness8 variantsbarrage8 variantsmalibu8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list