shirt

/ʃɜːt/

//ʃɜːt// noun

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

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

The verdict

“shirt” has 8 generated spelling variants in the English index at frequency #2,366. The variants make it a useful spelling check.

#2,366
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
8
tracked misspellings
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - An article of clothing that is worn on the upper part of the body, and often has sleeves, either long or short, that cover the arms.

Corpus desk

Index EN-shirt · shirt · English

shirt · rank #2,366 · 8 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-COMMON #2,366
  • LEN-MID 5 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-MID 8 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH scored

Nearest frequency peer: scored (-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 “shirt”

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

corpus weight

What this shows “shirt” 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).

shirt vs sir
60% similar
shirt vs sit
60% similar
shirt vs shit
80% similar

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

Key facts for shirt
PropertyValue
Headwordshirt
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechNoun
IPA/ʃɜːt/
Letters5
Frequency rank#2,366
Misspellings tracked8
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Frequency seat of misspelling magnet “shirt”

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).shirtlands here:

#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. Same rarity band neighbours include “scored” (#2,365), “shots” (#2,367), “remaining” (#2,364). Among 6,566 “S” headwords, “shirt” is #2,366. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

A misspelling magnet

The generator records 8 spelling variants around shirt (IPA /ʃɜːt/), anoun. Corpus frequency is #2,366 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 shirt, with forms such as "hsirt", "shhirt", and "shirrt". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "sir", "sit", "shit", and more, where similar look or sound leads writers to substitute one word for another in context.

Etymologically, the entry records: From Middle English sherte, shurte, schirte, from Old English sċyrte (“a short garment; skirt; kirtle”), from Proto-West Germanic *skurtijā, from Proto-Germanic *skurtijǭ (“a short garment, skirt, apron”), from *skurtaz (“short”). Cognate with Saterland Fri… The correct English form is shirt, spelled S-H-I-R-T.

Definition

  1. 1
    An article of clothing that is worn on the upper part of the body, and often has sleeves, either long or short, that cover the arms.
  2. 2
    An interior lining in a blast furnace.
  3. 3
    A member of the shirt-wearing team in a shirts and skins game.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

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

  1. He went to the mall to buy shirts his size.
  2. It can take a while to learn how to iron a shirt properly.

Etymology

From Middle English sherte, shurte, schirte, from Old English sċyrte (“a short garment; skirt; kirtle”), from Proto-West Germanic *skurtijā, from Proto-Germanic *skurtijǭ (“a short garment, skirt, apron”), from *skurtaz (“short”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian Schoarte (“apron”), Dutch schort (“apron”), German Schürze (“apron”), Danish skjorte (“shirt”), Norwegian skjorte (“shirt”), Swedish skjorta (“shirt”), Faroese skjúrta (“shirt”), Icelandic skyrta (“shirt”). Doublet of skirt via Old Norse; further related to short.

This word in other languages

camisa(Español)chemise(Français)Hemd(Deutsch)camisa(Português)

Common misspellings

Also misspelled as:

  • hsirt
  • shhirt
  • shirrt
  • shirtt
  • shitr
  • shrit
  • sihrt
  • sshirt

Misspelling Pattern Breakdown

How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of shirt - measured in single-character edits (insert, delete, or substitute a letter). Larger bars are easier to catch; one-edit slips are the sneakiest.

hsirt2shhirt1shirrt1shirtt1shitr2shrit2sihrt2sshirt1
Edit distance from "shirt"

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 "shirt"?
"shirt" is spelled S-H-I-R-T. The IPA pronunciation is /ʃɜːt/.
What does "shirt" mean?
As a noun, "shirt" means: An article of clothing that is worn on the upper part of the body, and often has sleeves, either long or short, that cover the arms.
What words are commonly confused with "shirt"?
"shirt" is commonly confused with "sir", "sit", "shit". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "shirt"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "shirt" is /ʃɜːt/. 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 "shirt"?
From Middle English sherte, shurte, schirte, from Old English sċyrte (“a short garment; skirt; kirtle”), from Proto-West Germanic *skurtijā, from Proto-Germanic *skurtijǭ (“a short garment, skirt, apron”), from *skurtaz (“short”). Cognate with Sat... 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 "shirt", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

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

shots#2,367novel#2,360cream#2,383fired#2,346

Similar misspelling depth

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

worried8 variantsDaniel8 variantseditor8 variantsdying8 variants

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

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list