sho

/ʃəʊ/

//ʃəʊ// adv

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

"sho" is a 3-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“sho” sits in 20 confusable pairs (corpus #24,589) as an adverb. The look-alike neighbours are the real trap.

#24,589
frequency rank, English
6,566
“S” headwords
20
confusable pairs

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - Pronunciation spelling of sure.

Corpus desk

Index EN-sho · sho · English

sho · rank #24,589 · 0 variants · 20 confusables

  • FREQ-MID #24,589
  • LEN-MID 3 letters
  • VOW-1 1 vowel
  • CONFUS-HIGH 20 pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-DENSE 6,566
  • PHOTO-FINISH sighed

Nearest frequency peer: sighed (+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.

Frequency neighbourhood for “sho”

Lower corpus rank = more everyday usage (inverted bar length for readability)

corpus weight

What this shows Bars show where “sho” sits against the nearest ranked English headwords in the FrequencyWords band, not a reprint of letter-browse containment.

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).

sho vs so
67% similar
sho vs SI
0% similar
sho vs SS
0% similar

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

Key facts for sho
PropertyValue
Headwordsho
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechAdverb
IPA/ʃəʊ/
Letters3
Frequency rank#24,589
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs20
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Where “sho” sits in English frequency

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

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

The axis is logarithmic, with each marked tick roughly ten times rarer than the last. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Easy to mix with look-alikes

The spelling risk for sho is neighbouring look-alikes ("so", "SI", …), not just typos; it is anadverb pronounced /ʃəʊ/. Frequency #24,589 among 6,566 “S” headwords. 2 recorded senses keep meaning in play.

The misspelling generator found no plausible variants for sho, a straightforward case of a spelling with little room for common typos. It also participates in 20 confusable-pair relationships, "so", "SI", "SS", and more, since the words sound or look close enough that writers reach for the wrong one mid-sentence.

No documented word history exists for this headword, so spelling patterns must be inferred from the word's phoneme-to-grapheme mapping rather than from a documented borrowing chain. The correct English form is sho, spelled S-H-O.

Definition

  1. 1
    Pronunciation spelling of sure.
  2. 2
    Pronunciation spelling of so.

Recorded use

Wiktionary example

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

  1. “I sho am glad. You sho you all right? I thought sho you was dead this time.”

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.

PlainSpell is rendered directly from structured Wiktionary extracts and open word-frequency lists, no number is typed in by an editor. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of September 3, 2026. Primary sources: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) and FrequencyWords.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "sho"?
"sho" is spelled S-H-O. The IPA pronunciation is /ʃəʊ/.
What does "sho" mean?
As an adverb, "sho" means: Pronunciation spelling of sure.
What words are commonly confused with "sho"?
"sho" is commonly confused with "so", "SI", "SS". These words look or sound similar but have different meanings. PlainSpell provides detailed comparisons for each pair.
How do you pronounce "sho"?
The IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) transcription for "sho" is /ʃəʊ/. Click the speaker icon on the pronunciation badge above to hear it spoken aloud where audio is available.
What language does "sho" come from?
"sho" 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 "sho", not the corpus desk frequency band.

Same letter count

Frequency-ranked English headwords with 3 letters (nearest by frequency rank).

RSA#24,578RGB#24,575TMZ#24,614wai#24,637

What to do next

You've looked up "sho". Here's where to go from here.

  • "sho" maps to 20 confusable pairs in this vintage; the highest-scored is "so". View pair
  • Usage frequency rank #24,589 among English headwords in this corpus. Corpus statistics
  • Browse more English words in the "S" letter cohort. S–Z browse
  • PlainSpell rotates a curated Word of the Day from the English corpus, a passive way to discover vocabulary. Word of the Day

PlainSpell is a reference corpus, not spelling advice. Verify unusual forms in context.

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