shock
/ʃɒk/
"shock" is a 5-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“shock” is a regularly-used English word, ranked #3,260 in English word frequency and used as a noun.
- #3,260
- frequency rank, English
- 5
- letters
- 8
- tracked misspellings
- 20
- confusable pairs
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - A sudden, heavy impact.
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 | shock |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Noun |
| IPA | /ʃɒk/ |
| Letters | 5 |
| Frequency rank | #3,260 |
| Misspellings tracked | 8 |
| Confusable pairs | 20 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Where “shock” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for shock is 5 letters long, classified as a noun, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /ʃɒk/. Corpus data places it at rank #3,260 in overall English word frequency, indicating it appears regularly in written and spoken text. Wiktionary records 10 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
Our generated misspelling index lists 8 likely wrong-spelling variants for shock, with forms such as "hsock", "shcok", and "shhock". 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 20 confusable-pair relationships, "show", "shot", "shop", 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 Dutch schokken (“to push, jolt, shake, jerk”) or Middle French choquer (“to collide with, clash”), from Old Dutch *skokkan (“to shake up and down, shog”), from Proto-Germanic *skukkaną (“to move, shake, tremble”). Of uncertain origin. Perhaps re… The correct English form is shock, spelled S-H-O-C-K.
Definition
- 1A sudden, heavy impact.
- 2A sudden, heavy impact.
- 3A sudden, heavy impact.
- 4A sudden, heavy impact.
- 5A sudden, heavy impact.
- 6A sudden, heavy impact.
- 7A sudden, heavy impact.
- 8A shock absorber (typically in the suspension of a vehicle).
- 9A discontinuity arising in the solution of a partial differential equation.
- 10A chemical added to a swimming pool to moderate the chlorine levels.
Etymology
From Middle Dutch schokken (“to push, jolt, shake, jerk”) or Middle French choquer (“to collide with, clash”), from Old Dutch *skokkan (“to shake up and down, shog”), from Proto-Germanic *skukkaną (“to move, shake, tremble”). Of uncertain origin. Perhaps related to Proto-Germanic *skakaną (“to shake, stir”), from Proto-Indo-European *(s)kek-, *(s)keg- (“to shake, stir”); see shake. Cognate with Middle Low German schocken (“collide with, deliver a blow to, move back and forth”), Old High German scoc (“a jolt, swing”), Middle High German schocken (“to swing”) (German schaukeln), Old Norse skykkr (“vibration, surging motion”), Icelandic skykkjun (“tremulously”), Middle English schiggen (“to shake”). Doublet of shog.
This word in other languages
Common misspellings
Also misspelled as: hsock,shcok,shhock,shocck,shockk,shokc,sohck,sshock
Misspelling Pattern Breakdown
How far each generated variant is from the correct spelling of shock - 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
How do you spell "shock"?
What does "shock" mean?
What words are commonly confused with "shock"?
How do you pronounce "shock"?
What is the origin of the word "shock"?
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Using “shock”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is S-H-O-C-K - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /ʃɒk/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Don't mix it up with “show” - see the side-by-side comparison. shock vs show
- 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.