shied

/ʃaɪd/

//ʃaɪd// verb

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

The verdict

“shied” is uncommon English (frequency #52,626 among 6,566 “S” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

#52,626
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - simple past and past participle of shy

Corpus desk

Index EN-shied · shied · English

shied · rank #52,626 · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-RARE #52,626
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-2 2 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sheared

Nearest frequency peer: sheared (-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 “shied”

Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter

corpus weight

What this shows Long-tail view: where “shied” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.

Source FrequencyWords open word-frequency list As of September 3, 2026
Key facts for shied
PropertyValue
Headwordshied
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
IPA/ʃaɪd/
Letters5
Frequency rank#52,626
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “shied” in English

Every-word frequency runs from the handful of words we use constantly (left) to the long tail used once in a blue moon (right).shiedfalls in this rarity band:

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

Ticks step logarithmically, so each one marks a roughly tenfold drop in how often the word turns up. Rare peers in the same band: “sheared” (#52,625), “shortwave” (#52,627), “separable” (#52,624). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “shied” is #52,626. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

shied is uncommon English at frequency #52,626 among 6,566 “S” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /ʃaɪd/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "simple past and past participle of shy".

Zero misspellings are on record for shied in our index, which points to an orthography that plays by predictable English rules. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which tends to mean the word is visually distinctive enough to stand on its own.

Wiktionary doesn't record an etymology for this headword, so its spelling is best read as a straightforward mapping from sound to letter. The correct English form is shied, spelled S-H-I-E-D.

Definition

  1. 1
    simple past and past participle of shy

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 "shied"?
"shied" is spelled S-H-I-E-D. The IPA pronunciation is /ʃaɪd/.
What does "shied" mean?
As a verb, "shied" means: simple past and past participle of shy
How do you pronounce "shied"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "shied" is /ʃaɪd/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "shied" come from?
"shied" is a English word. PlainSpell's reference spans five languages -- English, Spanish, Portuguese, French, and German -- with definitions, pronunciations, and spelling data for each.
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 "shied", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list