shimmer
/ˈʃɪm.ə(ɹ)/
"shimmer" is a 7-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“shimmer” is a moderately-common English word, ranked #29,834 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #29,834
- frequency rank, English
- 7
- letters
- 9
- tracked misspellings
- 12
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To shine tremulously or intermittently; to gleam faintly.
Visual similarity to commonly confused words
How many letter changes separate each confused pair (Levenshtein distance, normalized).
Source: PlainSpell confusable corpus (Wiktionary, CC BY-SA).
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | shimmer |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈʃɪm.ə(ɹ)/ |
| Letters | 7 |
| Frequency rank | #29,834 |
| Misspellings tracked | 9 |
| Confusable pairs | 12 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “shimmer” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for shimmer is 7 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ˈʃɪm.ə(ɹ)/. Corpus data places it at rank #29,834 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 2 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 9 likely wrong-spelling variants for shimmer, with forms such as "hsimmer", "shhimmer", and "shimemr". Each of these forms differs from the correct spelling by one small edit: a doubled letter, a dropped silent letter, or a substituted vowel. It also participates in 12 confusable-pair relationships, "summer", "simmer", "shiver", 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 Middle English schimeren, from Old English sċymrian, sċimrian, sċimerian, from Proto-Germanic *skimarōną. Cognate with Dutch schemeren, German schimmern. The correct English form is shimmer, spelled S-H-I-M-M-E-R.
Definition
- 1To shine tremulously or intermittently; to gleam faintly.
- 2Of a mass of bees: to move their abdomens in a coordinated manner so as to produce a shimmering wave effect, thought to deter predators.
Etymology
From Middle English schimeren, from Old English sċymrian, sċimrian, sċimerian, from Proto-Germanic *skimarōną. Cognate with Dutch schemeren, German schimmern.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hsimmer,shhimmer,shimemr,shimer,shimmerr,shimmre,shmimer,sihmmer,sshimmer
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of shimmer - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.
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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Using “shimmer”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-H-I-M-M-E-R - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ˈʃɪm.ə(ɹ)/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “summer” - see the side-by-side comparison. shimmer vs summer
- 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.